


Please Don't Kill Me

by theresidentartichoke



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allurance at the beginning, Alternate Universe - High School, Enemies to Lovers, Homophobia, Keith is a bully, Lance (Voltron) is so Pure, M/M, Mild Smut in the first chapter, One-Sided Allura/Lance (Voltron), One-Sided Keith/Shiro (Voltron), Panic Attacks, klance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-09-07 00:01:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 39,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16843090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theresidentartichoke/pseuds/theresidentartichoke
Summary: All Lance wanted to do was to play the song he wrote for Allura to impress her. Since the universe hates Lance, he finds himself in an awkward situation, witnessing a sexual encounter involving their school’s most dangerous bully, Keith. Now, Lance has to escape Keith’s death threats by trying to befriend his potential killer.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My first Klance fic! I hope you all like it. This was supposed to be for PJO but I decided it went better with Keith and Lance instead of Nico and Will. Keith’s surname is Kogane and Lance’s is Martinez.  
> I don’t quite understand how high school works in western countries but I tried my best. Hopefully, there aren’t any inconsistencies.  
> Kindly point out any errors, especially the ones that don't make any sense! I didn’t really proofread this much because I just wanted to post it as soon as possible. And I had problems with AO3's formatting too.  
> There will probably be ten to fifteen chapters. Currently working on chapter seven. I’ll be posting weekly. PLEASE ENJOY!

A loud, screeching sound filled the music room. Lance Martinez wanted to wanted to leave and apologize to his ears for exposing them to the horrible violin playing he was hearing. He looked around the room, trying to pinpoint who dared to play the violin in such a terrible way.

He saw the guy in question. Their teacher, a shriveled up old woman, was gently reprimanding him, using vague and inoffensive words. Once she moved and went over to praise some other idiot who didn't deserve it, Lance saw who it was.

Keith Kogane, simply rolled his eyes at the teacher and continued to play as horribly as before. It was strange because Lance knew he could play okay. They have been taking this class together since the beginning of school this year but they have never really interacted much. Now that he thought about it, no one ever did interact with Keith.

"He should just stop," he thought, irritated.

His atrocity was messing up his romantic piano playing that was indirectly for the most gorgeous girl in the whole world, Allura. Lance watched her while she placed the flute on her cute little lips. How Lance would give anything to be the damned flute! Or even his friend Hunk, who was seated behind her. He smirked at Lance and made some kissing gestures at his own instrument. While watching in horror as his friend defiled the poor wind instrument, it slipped his notice that he had been playing the same measure for quite some time. Their teacher patted him on the back and smiled.

"Honey, I know that part of the piece is very interesting but can we please move on? Aside from that, you're doing a remarkable job."

Once the teacher left, Lance shot a glance at Allura. He instantly wished he hadn't because she was looking right back at him, laughing. Lance decided to shrink behind the piano until the bell rang.

Gently closing the lid of the piano, he stood and gathered his things. Someone stepped on his hand as he reached for his pen that rolled across the room. Lance looked up and watched Keith Kogane leave the room without any sort of apology. Not that Lance would have demanded him to apologize. Keith Kogane scared the living crap out of him and possibly everyone in the entire school.

The all black attire did nothing to ease his fears. It was said that he killed his entire family when he was ten-years-old and that he owned a huge, cannibalistic dog. The only thing that was considered not intimidating about him was his height, but still you can't find anyone brave enough to insult him for that.

Everyone else was starting to leave so Lance had to act fast. He just had to cross over to the other side of the room and-

"Hey Lancey!" Of course Hunk had to block his perfect view of Allura.

“What did I tell you Hunk? Only the ladies could call me Lancey,” he replied.

Just as Hunk was going to talk, Allura giggled pass them, causing him to forget how riled up he was. Lance wanted to follow Allura outside but there was Hunk and he felt bad leaving him just like that.

"Oh that's fine. Abandon your friend for some cute girl," Hunk said, annoyed but grinning.

"You're the best Hunk!"

Breaking into a run, Lance managed to chase Allura down the hall. She was chatting with her friends. She was always so gentle, almost as if flowers would begin blooming at her feet anytime.

Lance had a plan: play the piano beautifully, walk up to Allura, smile and then begin the killer speech he prepared the day before. His mom and dad agreed that it was a nice speech. Surely, Allura would agree for him to be her date to the dance. But because Lance is a loser and the universe hates losers, he forgot one thing—he was not athletic. Sure, running down the hall didn't seem much but partnered up with nerves and heavy sheet music in his lanky arms, they sure ruined everything Lance planned.

He heaved. "A-Allura?"

Allura turned to him, her hair fanning out in slow motion. "Hey Lance!" She smiled at him and then frowned almost immediately. "Are you alright?"

"Oh. Just peachy."

Her friends started giggling behind her. Lance wanted the floor to eat him up. He was probably all sweaty and gross now.

"Nice piano playing back there," she said.

"I uh...messed up a little though."

"Still... That was pretty impressive."

The beating in his chest went from tired fast to I'm-a-time-bomb-that's-about-to-explode fast. Allura just was just complimenting him and she was talking about his piano playing earlier, which meant that she was looking at him!

That was ten points for Lance.

"So um Allura… do you want to go to the um… dance with me?" he asked.

"You're so cute, Lance. Of course! You really didn't have to ask."

His eyes widened. "Wow. Really? Um..."

"Let's talk later, okay?" she said. "I have class."

It sounded like Lance spluttered out a goodbye. Hunk then appeared beside him, patting his back for a job well done.

"She does," he said, snapping Lance out of his daze.

"What?"

"She's got class. Look at her. Fancy and ladylike… unlike our savage of a friend."

A second later, Pidge came up to them and hit Hunk hard. Hunk's hand flew to his head, rubbing the spot where he was hit.

"Geez Pidge!"

"I am not a savage friend!" she yelled, indignantly.

"Geeky friend?" Lance suggested.

Pidge hit Lance this time and Hunk had to physically stop her from injuring both of them further.  
“How about just smart friend?” Pidge suggested, adjusting her glasses.

* * *

The gym was transformed into a fairytale, not did it mattered to Lance. Allura just rode in his very old car. She even smiled at him five times before she went to take pictures with her friends. The mere fact that Lance was there with Allura was a fairytale itself.

A cold sweat ran down his spine as he walked into the venue with his guitar, trying to find Pidge and Hunk. He was suddenly not sure if he could still keep this up—his false confident image.

“Okay, okay Pidge. This isn’t going to work. The speakers are too cheap,” Hunk said, cradling a ton of wires.

Pidge scratched her the nonexistent stubbles on her chin. “Well, you’re right about that part. Let me see…”

After inspecting the speakers, both Pidge and Hunk got a look on their faces. It was the I-have-an-idea face that scared and amused Lance. Once their gazes met, Lance knew his friends solved the problem.

Why was he friends with Pidge and Hunk? Apart, they caused Lance splitting headaches that even his Mama's miracle food couldn't probably heal. When they were together, Lance wanted to duck in the nearest bomb shelter because they tend to find ways to cause World War III.

Their talk about algorithms and technology made Lance feel pretty dumb. He knew he was the dumb one in their little group and sometimes it was okay. Lance had his own talents like cooking, playing instruments, writing-

"A song? You wrote a song for her?" Pidge exclaimed.

Music was his advantage over his two genius friends. Unlike them, who get inspired by unsolvable problems, he had a different muse. Going out with Allura caused a tune to get stuck in his mind, wanting to be written. It was beautiful and classy like the girl who inspired its creation.

Pidge and Hunk however, stared at him as if he grew a second head. They looked at each other and then back at him before bursting out in laughter.

"How does the song go?" She held her hand up to silence him. "Wait, wait! _Lalala, Allura_."

"No, I bet I can do a Lance impression better." Hunk cleared his throat and Lance prepared himself for the worst. _"Allura, Allura, I’ll get a whole orchestra. Allura, Allura, we shall eat carbonara."_

While Lance stared at him, a mortified expression on his face, Pidge elbowed him.

"Lance does not sound that lame! Right?" she said, turning to face him.

"How about I don't sound lame?"

"Sorry, my friend, but you're the lamest person I've met." Hunk took the guitar from him. "You write lame songs for girls."

"Hunk!" Pidge exclaimed, pulling at the guitar. "Don't be rude. Give it back to Lance!"

He held the guitar tighter. "We're saving our friend from embarrassing himself, Pidge!"

"Hey guys...be careful with that-"

Before Lance could finish his sentence, there was a loud pinging noise that sounded out between the three of them. He felt his heart drop as he looked at the guilty faces of his friends.

Did they just...?

Hunk's eyes widened. "Oh no."

"Whoops. Sorry Lance..." Pidge handed the guitar to him.

They did.

Two guitar strings were broken.

"If it makes you feel any better. It was all Pidge's fault."

Lance breathed in deeply. It was cool. He could still sing his special song to Allura. He just had to replace the strings. There were strings in the music room and he had the keys to the music room, thanks to their teacher who favors him. Lance just had to go there, get some strings, fix his guitar and sing the special song to Allura.

He left Hunk and Pidge as they continued talking tech to each other. They didn't even notice that he was gone. Lance just let out a sigh. Nothing got in between team Punk and their technology. He walked out the gym and into the dark hallways towards the music room.

Maybe it was a lame song? Maybe the universe was telling him not to play it in front of Allura because she’ll just think he was loser and leave with some hotter guy like that Lotor. All these maybe thoughts were making him hesitant and more nervous by the second.

It was a short walk but was so drained when he reached the music room. Strangely, the door was opened. Lance thought people were still moving things into the gym so he walked right inside. Then he froze because what else could he have possibly done at that moment?

On top of the piano- his piano, were two sweaty butts, grinding into each other. The taller one had his pants pooled around his ankles and the shorter one, whose ass was on display for Lance to see, was all naked, except for a necktie around his neck.

And they were definitely in the middle of something.

"Fuck...fuck..." the shorter guy gasped and his voice was awfully familiar.

Taller guy looked at him and nudged the shorter guy.

"What the hell is it now?" the short guy questioned. Lance knew that intimidating voice. Keith Kogane turned around, allowing Lance to see all his naked glory and glared at him. "Out. Get out."

In fear, Lance dropped his guitar on the floor and tripped over it. He scrambled to his feet, picked up his guitar and ran for dear life. The pitch black hallway echoed with his frantic footsteps and his panicked breathing. For some reason, he decided to go to the restroom because of course when you're about to be murdered by a naked guy, you hide in the toilet.  
Lance was so freaked out that he jumped when he saw his own reflection. Sweat went down from his hair, which his mother spent thirty minutes combing and was now an unrecognizable mess. His rented tuxedo was wrinkled and damp from his sweating.

How could this happen to him? All he wanted was to finally get a girl to kiss him. What he got though, was a death sentence. His guitar—the very one that his father gave him for Christmas, was smashed on the side where it fell on. The sight of it alone made his eyes well up with tears. That guitar meant so much to him because music was one of the things that tied their family together.

Plus his impending doom made him want to call his mom to pick him up.

The image burned itself in his brain. No matter how much he scrubbed his eyes or tried not to think about it, he could still see it. His mind was forever scarred with Keith and the other guy doing it. He's never ever had a problem with gay people but he's never seen them kissing or having sex for that matter. The intimidating face of Keith Kogane looking at him in anger burned itself into his brain.

 _I'm dead_ , he thought.

He just walked in a very private moment. It could have been just any horny couple of teenagers but because the world is cruel as hell, it just had to be Keith Kogane. The guy who was rumoured to keep the corpses of his victims in his closet. The guy who was said to be friends with soldiers from the Garrison. And apparently, the guy who has sex in music rooms.

Some amount of disgust rose from his stomach at the thought of anyone tainting the piano with their fucking, but it quickly went back down, also afraid of Keith’s rage. He would never look at the piano the same way. Heck, he probably would never come inside the music room ever again. Traumatized and tired, he just thought about one thing.

Lance didn't want to end up in Keith Kogane's closet.


	2. Chapter 2

For the first time in his life, Lance felt safer in his old and dilapidated car than anywhere else. No one was going to bother him in his stupid car, unlike if he were to be walking in the hallways. He faced the school, an internal debate going on in his mind whether or not he should skip class. His palms were sweaty and unmoving on the steering wheel.

There were two reasons why he did not want to leave his car. First, he ditched Allura after one dance. He was so freaked out by what happened that his arms around her kept shaking and he just couldn’t dance anymore. Second, and most importantly, he did not want to die. Keith Kogane was on the lookout, ready to kill him anytime. Just because he walked in on him having a very private moment with someone.

He shuddered with fear as he looked back on what his eyes were accidentally exposed to - an undressed Keith and a random guy fucking on top of the very piano he always played on. It was disgusting in so many levels but the terror that came from how Keith glared at him outweighed it all.

It was so unfair. The very moment he had the girl of his dream in his arms, life just swoops in and drops this Keith problem on him. There was probably a higher being laughing at Lance at that moment. Now he regrets taking piano lessons instead of karate as a kid. He could seriously use some self-defense skills.

“There’s Lance!” He heard Hunk say. 

Lance tried to sink further down so people would just leave him alone. But of course his friends would never just ignore him. They were the best people ever but he did not need them now. He had to stay hidden otherwise, Keith would find him.

“Get in!” he said, quickly unlocking the doors and frantically ushering them inside.

Pidge’s brows furrowed in confusion. “What? But Lance-”

“Just get in!” he exclaimed, both of them listening this time.

Hunk got in beside Lance while Pidge occupied the whole backseat, lying down. It would have been like their usual hangouts but Lance was freaking out about his problem.

A heavy hand was on his shoulder. He then turned to Hunk. “What’s the problem Lance? So what if you panicked and left Allura all alone? It’s no big deal. She’s nice so she’ll probably understand if you apologized.”

“That’s not it,” Lance replied miserably.

“What do you mean? Lance, is there a reason why you left the dance so early?”

“I-”

Before Lance could say anything, he heard the roaring of a motorcycle. He gulped even though his throat was very dry. The motorcycle stopped in front of his car and the driver took his helmet off. Keith looked even more menacing when he had his clothes on. The way he approached Lance’s car was like how a predator approached its prey - slow and menacing. 

“You and I need to talk,” Keith said, slamming his fist on the roof of the car. His poor car did not deserve the treatment, even though it was junk.

Lance looked around, hoping he was talking to someone else. “What? Who? Me?”

“Yes, you.” Keith simply walked away, expecting Lance to be following right behind him.

The panic in his chest was starting to make its way down his stomach. Pidge and Hunk looked at him with concern but they also looked quite terrified.

He remembered a rumor that said Keith was a secret samurai. Not wanting his head to get chopped off, he got his backpack, just in case he needed something to throw, and we t out of the car to follow him. Closing his eyes, he clung to the thought that Keith wouldn’t kill him in broad daylight with several witnesses around.

“You,” Keith said, his voice threatening, “weren’t supposed to see that.”

“S-see what?! I did not see anything!”

“You dropped your guitar…” Keith took a step forward, causing him to step back. “In the music room.”

When Lance’s back hit the wall, he knew he had no way out.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Lance cried. “I didn’t mean to walk in on you having s-”

“Shh!” Keith’s hand flew to Lance’s mouth, silencing him. “Fuck, you’re too chatty. Just stay quiet. You can’t tell anyone about this or I’ll get you.”

“Y-you can’t.... You’ll be thrown in jail if you killed me!” Lance said.

“I have been to jail. I know everyone there,” Keith said, not breaking eye contact. “Do we have a deal?

Something dripped down his cheek. Whether it was sweat or tears, Lance didn’t know. He finally got a closer look at Keith. He was even paler in the darkness and though he was thin, there was no doubt that he could kill him in one punch just from how tough his arms looked.

“I said, do we have a deal?” Keith repeated, snapping Lance out of his daze.

“Yes, yes!” Lance managed to choke out.

“Good,” Keith said. “I’ll be keeping a close eye on you.”

“But I’ll be good! I would never tell anyone that you-”

Keith stepped on his foot, causing him to groan in pain. “Shut the fuck up!”

“Just don’t kill me. I’m too young,” Lance said. “Please, I’m the youngest in my family so everyone’s going to cry!”

Keith simply frowned at him as he rambled on. “Whatever. I still don’t trust you.”

Relief washed through him when he was released from Keith’s tight hold. He was pushed back, his back hitting the wall. 

“Tell your friends I took your money,” Keith said as walked away from him.

Lance watched as Keith got back on his motorcycle. It roared alive and sped pass him, exiting the school premises. Lance couldn’t believe that he just saw Keith skip class in the most intimidating way possible.

“What just happened?” Hunk asked, rushing towards his friend.

“He’s going to pass out,” Pidge told Hunk.

He shook his head and blinked several times. “I am not!” he said. “He just… took my money.”

“Oh Lance. You can share my lunch,” Hunk offered.

At least there was still something good about the day. Hunk’s food was always so delicious. There were times when he could even say its better than his mother’s cooking but he would never ever in a million years admit that. However, even with the blessing of sharing his friend’s lunch that day, he still couldn’t forget Keith’s threat. It seemed like his life was ending very soon.

Hunk then nudged him, pointing at Allura who was waving at him. For a moment, his brain stopped working. Pidge, who was an expert on fixing stuff, took the first measure in resolving these type of issues: a hard slap on his back.

“Go to her and apologize,” Pidge said.

“Yeah! And then ask her out again. She looks like she really likes you man,” Hunk said.

With a nod, Lance was off to where Allura was.

* * *

_ “How do I get you alone? Alooooooooone!”  _ Allura sang.

With his eardrums thoroughly ruined, Lance turned to Allura and gave her a polite smile. At least now he knew that the most perfect girl in the universe was not so perfect at all. She couldn’t sing to save her life.

To make up for leaving her at the dance, Lance asked her out again which gained him another miracle of her actually saying agreeing. Originally, he thought all his chances with Allura flew out the window once his guitar got broken but here he was, in a little karaoke booth on a Saturday afternoon with the girl of his dreams.

_ Maybe I’ll get kissed if I clapped, _ he thought.

The thought was pushed away as Allura sang a horrendously high note, her voice cracking in the process. 

“Wow Allura,” he said when the song ended. “That was...something.”

“I was horrible, huh?”

“No, no, no! Well, yeah. But you had fun right?”

“That was the best fun I’ve had!” she said excitedly.

Lance felt his heart melt at how beautiful she looked. Her eyes just lit up brightly against her dark skin and curly, white hair. Her hair honestly looked like a fluffy cloud.

“I bleached it,” she said.

“What?”

“You were staring at my hair. If you were wondering why it’s white, I bleached it and then colored it,” she explained.

“It suits you. I mean, you’d probably look good with black hair too,” Lance said.

Three more songs followed. Allura laughed when Lance sang Beyoncé. He even did the dance which entertained her more than the song. They would have stayed longer but her father warned Lance to bring her back before dinner time. Like a gentleman, he opened the car door for her before he got in the driver seat.

A very familiar motorcycle drove past his car stopped nearby. This day quickly went from the best day of his life to the scariest. When Lance said that he could die after one date with Allura, he did not mean it in the literal sense.

“I had so much fun today Lance,” Allura said, smiling at him.

“Huh? Oh! Oh yeah, me too!” Lance said, looking at the motorcycle warily. “We need to go.”

“Go now? But why? I thought you wanted to take me to look at constellations with Pidge and Hunk?”

“Um… they cancelled. Woops,” Lance lied, instantly feeling guilty. “Besides your father wants you back before dinner time right?”

Allura nodded. “He is quite strict…”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Lance started to drive, hoping Keith wasn’t following them.

* * *

Lance still did not know what to feel about Punk Nights ™. This time, they were at the park with a huge telescope, that was built by Pidge, and some unknown technology that the Garrison only dreamed of having, also built by Pidge.

“Man, you bailed on Allura again?” Hunk asked as he typed into his laptop.

“Please stop reminding me,” Lance said, burying his face into his hands. “Now it’s not just my brain that’s hurting. It’s my heart too.”

“Well, there are no pain receptors in the brain itself,” Pidge explained.

“But what is the brain?” Lance asked.

“It is the center of the nervous-”

Lance raised a hand to interrupt her. “No. I meant, is it a solid or a liquid?”

“Nice question Lance!” Hunk said, giving him a high five. “It’s obviously not a gas because… well, I know gases.”

“No, you two don’t understand. The brain is much more complex than being a solid or a liquid. It’s actually-”

“Oh, oh! The brain is seventy percent water so it’s a liquid!” Lance said.

“Oh good one Lance!” Hunk agreed.

Pidge’s eye twitched. It was almost as if she was allergic to her friends being wrong about vital organs. “Your body is seventy percent water. Are you a liquid?!” she exclaimed

Lance simple shrugged and then Pidge launched into an anatomy lecture. As he tried to drown Pidge’s voice out, Lance looked at the distance where trees surrounded a lake.

He was still so frustrated at himself for lying to Allura like that. Their relationship would have been progressing faster if it wasn’t for Keith and his stupid threat to kill him the moment his secret got out.

Keith traumatized him so hard that Lance could still hear his motorcycle. Lance was going crazy.

“Ugh… why is it so loud here? Seriously, the vibrations are causing interference with the device,” Pidge complained.

The sound got even louder and Lance dared to look. Of course, it was Keith as he expected. However, this time, there were two motorcycles racing into the park.

“It’s Keith,” Lance said. “I know that mullet anywhere.”

The two got off of their vehicles and started walking with each other. They seemed to be talking.

“Maybe he’s throwing a dead body into the lake? We should get out of here guys.”

“Wait,” Lance said, pulling the telescope away from Pidge to get a closer look at Keith. A disappointed groan left his lips when all he could see was black. “Pidge your telescope is broken!”

Pidge snatched the telescope back. “Because these aren’t made for short distances. Use binoculars or something.” She cleaned the lens. “Why do you want to stalk Keith anyway?”

“I’m not stalking him! He’s stalking me!” Lance said.

“What would he want with you?”

“Because-” Lance stopped himself.

The sound of Keith’s voice echoed in his head. It was what his nightmares were made out of and worse. He would never tell anyone what happened. He loved himself and his ability to be alive too much.

“Because he’s a weirdo and a bully.”

His friends accepted that and went back to gazing at the stars. Great. He’s lying to his friends now. The minute he looked back at the lake, there was no sign of Keith or his friend, only a distant sound of a vehicle.

Lance had the strangest feeling that this wouldn’t be the last time he would see Keith outside of school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The part where they were talking about brains? That was a real conversation between me and my friends back in High School. Hoped you all liked it! Comment if I committed heinous grammatical errors or if you really, really liked it!
> 
> Also, season 8 is in just a few days! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Season 8 was just released! I'm still halfway through but it's okay so far. Thanks to everyone who's reading! Please send in your comments! I really want to know what you guys think.

And he was right.

In school, a mean pair of eyes would always be following his every move. They shared a few classes and Keith rarely attended them but when he did, Lance would silently be dying in his seat. He could barely touch the piano anymore. In his mind, the ten thousand dollar baby grand piano had been desecrated by Keith and his sweaty butt on the night of the dance. Lance had to resist the urge to vomit whenever he played.

After classes, things got even more nerve-racking. Whenever he drove his niece to her ballet lessons, Keith would be there, leaning against a wall and looking like he was about to challenge someone to fight. When running errands for his mother, he’d hear the revving up of a damned motorcycle. Even when he took out the trash, he saw the vehicle whoosh pass his house.

Maybe he was imagining it all?

Of course, Lance wanted the answer to be yes and he wanted to stop worrying. He hated how he got nervous about whether or not he’d still be alive by the end of the day.

That afternoon, he just got out of his part-time job, teaching little kids piano. He gave a high five to the little girl he was just teaching ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ to. Sure enough, there was Keith, waiting outside beside his motorcycle. He had sunglasses and a leather jacket on. Scared or not, he can’t deal with this stalking anymore.

With a final attempt to stop the shaking his legs, Lance approached him angrily. His mind tried to talk him out of it, recognizing that it was a terrible idea but he couldn’t do anything about it now. Keith was right in front of him.

“What the hell is your problem?” Lance demanded.

“Excuse me?” Keith looked at him, lowering the sunglasses before putting them away.

“Why do you keep following me?” he asked again. This time his voice was less sure. Less of a demand and more of an intimidated plea.

Upon scanning the place he was in, a dark alley with a huge dumpster that Keith could hide his dead body in, Lance immediately regretted his decision. The putrid smell from the garbage did nothing for his stomach, that was already gurgling from unease.

With a quick glance at him, Keith sighed and pulled out a cigarette. He lit it and then pulled it to his lips, before blowing out a huff of smoke. “Oh. It’s you. Music room guy,” he said.

“I-I am not music room guy!” he yelled, flustered. Music room guy was obviously the dude he had sex with and he was not that guy. “The name’s Lance, okay?”

Keith simply turned to the other side, ignoring Lance.

“Hello! Come on man! Stop stalking me!” Lance practically begged. “I’m going crazy here.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Stalk you? You really think your boring life is worth my attention?”

For a moment, he was at lost of what to say. He could hardly believe what he was doing. He could just run away and pretend nothing happened. Keith basically admitted he wasn’t interested in killing him so that was good news, but for some ridiculous reason, Lance had to continue this confrontation.

“Y-you are! You’re everywhere! I saw you at the grocery store. I saw you near my house! I saw you at the park-”

“Hold up.” He raised a hand to stop him from talking. His blank, bored expression turned into distrust and suspicion. “When did you see me at the park?”

“Last week. But that doesn’t matter. I-”

“Last week?” Keith repeated sharply, raising a brow. “Fuck, I think you’re the one who’s following me.”

“I am not!” Lance yelled. “I was there with my friends and I saw you with that big muscled boyfriend of yours.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Keith said.

There was this sadness to Keith’s tone. Whether or not he imagined it, Lance didn’t know. The frustration from the pointless conversation caused him to shrug it all off. He wanted Keith to stop following him. He wanted to have a normal day out. He wanted to go on a date without lying to his almost girlfriend.

“Look, I’m not going to tell anyone about what happened. You think you’re embarrassed? Fuck, I walked in on two people having gay sex on top of a piano!” Lance exclaimed but no one was around to hear him anyway. “I needed to wash my eyes out with holy water.”

Keith frowned at him. “Yeah, yeah. Maybe next time you should bring some of your holy water to spray on me.”

Damn. He hit a nerve. He did not expect that.

“I wasn’t even serious when I threatened you. I just wanted you to shut up about it,” Keith hissed, his voice low with seething anger. “Since you obviously can’t fucking keep your mouth closed…”

Any attempt to take back what he said was futile. He raised his hands in defense as Keith stalked after him, his movements slow and predatory. It was only when Lance slipped on a puddle and fell beside a pile of garbage that he stopped. With his nostrils burning from the rancid food scraps and animal waste, he looked up at Keith towering above him.

“You really better watch out now…” he growled out before he climbed back on his motorcycle. He turned to looked at him again, a murderous glare flashing in his eyes. “Lance.” With that, he put his helmet on and rode off, splashing Lance with mud on purpose.

Crap.

That was all that came to his mind, since it was all he could smell but an even bigger part was because he was suddenly Keith’s number one enemy. Lance closed his eyes and cursed himself for having so little caution. Any day now, Keith was going to… do something for revenge. He so desperately hoped his punishment was not death but he still wished that there was no punishment at all.

* * *

Day three of still being alive after his terrifying confrontation with Keith was going so well. Pidge and Hunk were with him and they were all thrilled and giddy with excitement. The best part of it was that there was no sign of Keith.

“Have I ever told you that I love your sister?” Pidge asked as she stared out in amazement. “Even dad can’t let me in this part of the compound.”

The sight was so mesmerizing that it left all three of them with their mouths agape. The Garrison was nothing like they had ever seen before. Lance heard a lot about it from his big sister but nothing could have ever prepared him for today.

About twenty security guards were posted by the entrance, flanking each side. They thoroughly checked the three for any illegal items before leading them into one of the main warehouses. Pidge had to give up the tiny camera in her glasses but she did not complain. In fact, she happily gave it to them and pulled out a normal pair. They walked through a lengthy corridors edged with a vast number of laboratories. Solid metal encased the entire interior of the building.

“You have. Honestly, it’s getting a little weird but it’s alright,” Lance said with a chuckle. “I love Veronica too.”

“You better!” Veronica said before pulling her little brother into a tight hug. “Hey Lance. How’s Mamá and Papá?”

“Missing you a lot! But you probably don’t miss any of us with all of this surrounding you everyday,” Lance said.

Veronica was the best sister in the entire world but he would never tell his other siblings that. Marco and Luis would kill him and Rachel would never share her beauty secrets ever again. Being the youngest in his family, everyone still treated him like a baby but Veronica didn’t.

“Of course I missed you and everyone,” she said. Veronica looked at his friends and gave them a smile. “Hey guys. Stopped Lance from doing stupid stuff lately?”

“He almost sang a really lame song to his girlfriend-“

“Not my girlfriend!” Lance corrected, his ears getting pink.

“Almost girlfriend but we managed to break the strings of his guitar,” Hunk finished.

“Thanks. Lance is a good musician but his lyrics are the worst! What was that song you made for Mamá and Papá’s anniversary?” Veronica asked, scratching her chin in thought. She then snapped her finger. “Got it! Gray Hair and Love is a very bad title.”

“I was nine!” Lance defended himself, crossing his arms across his chest indignantly.

He didn’t have time to stay annoyed because the door, which he didn’t even was there, slid open and out came the very reason why Lance wanted to go to the Garrison. With his captain uniform and his tough build, Shiro would have been quite threatening if it weren’t for his kind smile. Even so, Lance’s hands went cold and he could feel Hunk shaking beside him as Shiro approached.

“Veronica,” Shiro said, his voice was commanding and nice at the same time. Lance freaked out at the fact that he said his sister’s name. “Are these new recruits?”

Veronica shook her head. “Hopeful recruits. They’re handing in their applications today.”

“Today?” Lance asked, freaking out even more.

“Today,” Veronica repeated.

There was a wave of shock among him and his friends. It was obvious that none of them had prepared anything. Even Pidge, who was always equipped with plan A to Z, was disturbed with how unprepared she was.

“Great! I know someone who’s submitting his application today too. I’d tell you that you might know him but he loves cutting class too much,” Shiro said before sighing. “High School grades aren’t that important here anyway.”

“Good news, right Lance?” Veronica asked her brother, nudging him.

“I’d say yeah but Pidge looks so appalled right now,” he said, gesturing to his friend.

Shiro chuckled. “Well here at the Garrison, everyone gets a fair chance. We have several phases in the application process to ensure that whoever gets in deserves the place.”

Hunk raised his hand. “Um… Mr. Shirogane sir? I was just wondering if we’re really going inside one of those things that spin us really, really fast because I do not do well with spinning stuff.”

“Just call me Shiro and that spinning thing is called a centrifuge. Not everyone has to undergo training like that,” Shiro said with a nice smile.

Hunk let out a sigh of relief. “Oh good. I thought I’d have to embarrass myself for this.”

In his current state of awe, Lance could do nothing but attempt to stop his hands from trembling and his mouth from muttering the wrong words. This was Shiro he was facing, his hero ever since he was a kid. The Shiro who broke every record there was for pilots. The guy who had all the muscles that Lance wished he had. It was funny that now he was so close to him, Lance had the sudden urge to poke that big bicep of his…

Lance snapped out of his thought when Shiro shook his hand. “Hey Lance. Nice to finally meet Veronica’s little brother,” he said.

_ His hand was even bigger than his. _

“Um… I’m Lance,” he said and then he mentally berated himself because obviously Shiro already knew his name. “It’s an honor meeting you.”

“I’ve heard great things about you,” Shiro said, making Lance feel special and giddy inside. “Of course, I’ve heard very good things about you three. Especially Miss Holt. Commander Holt’s daughter?”

Pidge nodded. “Call me Pidge. Dad’s retired but my brother works with you.”

“Ah Matt,” Shiro said. “We can try to get him to join the tour but I think he’s swamped.”

“He always is…” Pidge said with a proud grin.

When Shiro’s attention was on Pidge and not on him all of a sudden, he felt a little disappointed. Of course Lance understood that Shiro was there to encourage all three of them to join the Garrison and not just him. He just felt extra special in the five seconds he had a conversation with him.

“So we’re only missing one person. I should have known he’ll be late on purpose,” Shiro said. “You should know him. He goes to your school.”

Before they could even wonder who it was, the door opened once again and the devil entered. Lance could feel the walls closing in on him, his breath getting shallow and his heart pounding. Standing in the doorway was Keith. His mullet was messy and his eyes were missing their usual darkness. Nonetheless, he could still inspire feelings of fear and unease in anybody.

“Sorry Shiro. My motorcycle has been acting weird lately,” Keith said.

“It’s okay. We barely started,” Shiro said, smiling warmly at him. Apparently, Shiro was immune to Keith’s nightmare-inducing tendencies. He even had an arm wrapped around him. “This is Keith. You probably know him but if you don’t, it’s probably because he hates going to school so much.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Stop lecturing me.” With an annoyed grunt, he pushed Shiro’s arm away. Their gazes met and Lance gulped when he gave him a scheming smile. “Lance,” he said.

Pidge and Hunk both looked at him and then back at Keith. Shiro and Keith started to walk, starting the tour. Veronica stopped them from following, sensing her brother’s nerves.

“You know him?” she asked. “The emo kid? What’s his name again?”

“Keith. Um… It’s a long story but-”

“He stole Lance’s lunch money!” Hunk said, attempting a quiet voice but ultimately failing.

Lance hushed him, covering his mouth. “Careful! He might hear you!”

Pidge raised her hand to explain. “Keith is a notorious bully at our school. Lance is very scared of him and so is Hunk.”

“But it’s fine Veronica,” Lance said. He knew the expression on her face. Her overprotective sister levels were rising and when she gets filled, nothing could stop her. “We could handle it.”

“If you’re sure then okay.” Veronica said before walking away.

Stifling a sigh of relief, Lance followed them. Today was going to be a strange day.

For the next several hours, Shiro and Veronica had lectured about the various departments and their importance to the whole administration while strolling around the whole thirty miles of the Garrison. The two didn’t even break a sweat while Lance, Pidge, and Hunk were slowly dying from their aching feet. Lance was brave enough to take a glance at Keith. He mentally cursed him because he was just like Shiro and Veronica. He was as fresh as the moment he came in.

So far, Keith had not done anything to harm him in anyway so Lance figured that maybe he was pretending to be good to get into the Garrison like them. With Veronica there, Lance was slowly feeling that it was a safe place for him. No dying would be happening today and that was the best news ever.

The day was almost over when they started to fill-out their application forms. There was a long list of experience under Pidge’s and Hunk’s names. Heck, even Keith had enough experience to take up the whole damn page. Lance’s was mediocre.

_ “Knows Spanish. Plays several musical instruments,”  _ Lance wrote down. He wanted to slap himself because the Garrison doesn’t care for musicians. They wanted engineers and scientists. While he never really had bad grades, he was far from the geniuses his friends were. After all, he was the dumb one in their group.

“Lance,” someone called out, snapping him out of his daze.

He looked up and Pidge and Hunk were gone. It was only him and Keith.

“Oh, h-hey there Keith,” Lance said, looking around for an escape route.

He approached him, backing him up to a wall. “You’re going to tutor me,” Keith demanded. 

_ Wait. What? _


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you’re all enjoying the holidays. I didn’t really reread this so please point out any inconsistencies or grammatical errors. Please leave a comment if you liked this chapter :)

“Spanish has never been my favorite class,” Keith explained.

Nothing could have ever prepared him for what he heard just a moment ago. Keith, all alone with him in this cold, metal meeting room, approached and back him into a corner before he demanded that he tutored him in Spanish. This information was unsettling and it made Lance’s brain hurt like hell.

“Woah, woah, woah,” Lance said, his palms in front of him. “Time out. I can’t tutor you!”

The application form was snatched out of Lance’s shaking hands. “It says so right here you speak Spanish,” he said, glaring at him with his black, almost deep purple eyes. “I don’t see why you can’t. Unless, you’re not scared of what will happen if you don’t.”

Lance was too scared at that very moment to even think of the future. Here was Keith, the guy who scares him to death everyday because he accidentally saw him fucking a guy he didn’t even know, asking- no, forcing him to tutor him in Spanish, his first language.

Several minutes had probably pass by because Keith looked even more irritated than before. He let out a sigh. “You’ll just help me with my homework. Get me a passing grade and I’ll- ” He paused, almost as if he didn’t know what to say. “All this will stop. As long as you don’t say a single word about… the incident, I’ll let you go.”

They were calling it ‘the incident’ now? Lance thought it was weird that he wanted to give a nickname to his promiscuous adventures.

“Hey. Did you hear me or do I have to stab it into your fucking head?” Keith angrily questioned.

“I got it! Please don’t stab anything into my head. I love my head with no stabs pretty please,” he said covering his eyes with shaking hands.

“Good. After school. Tomorrow,” Keith said.

“T-tomorrow?” Lance asked.

“Your place.” He shoved his application form back into his chest hard. It was torn and a little crumpled from the rough handling.

Lance gulped. “My place?”

He grasped his chest when Keith took a step backward, finally moving away from him.

“Are you a parrot or something?” Keith looked back at him.

“Parrot? Uh...n-no! I mean no,” Lance said, waving his hands frantically. “Tomorrow right? My place will be ready for um… tutoring.”

“It better be,” Keith said, taking his own application and heading towards the door. “And Lance?”

“Yes?” His voice was a pitch higher than normal.

“You misspelled your name.”

With that, he left. Lance looked down at the paper in his hands and cursed when he saw that he had indeed spelled his name wrong. Who the hell was Lans? After taking another application form and filling it out, he was ready to submit it. He took one last look at what he wrote down. Who was he kidding? He wasn’t going to get in. Even if Veronica had the power to get him in by recommendation, he wasn’t going to last a year in there. He wasn’t smart or strong. Heck, he even misspells his name.

Although, there was still this very tiny part of him, that wished so deeply that, even if he wasn’t much of a scientist, he could get in and prove that he deserved to be there. It was the same delusional part of him that handed over the form to his sister and smiled even though he just saw a stack of papers from people just like him but better.

It was too late to do anything now. He just had to wait for his rejection letter. In the meantime, he had a deadly Spanish tutoring session to worry about.

* * *

Ten minutes in and Keith has not killed him yet. Lance knew it was merely because they were inside his car and that he was the one driving. Keith wouldn’t be bloodthirsty enough to slit his throat while in a moving vehicle, right? In his peripheral vision, he was watching Keith stupid fingerless gloved hand trying to pick something at his leather jacket. The slightest of movement from him caused Lance to jump in his seat a little.

“Could you please calm down?” Keith snapped at him. “And you drive like a grandmother for fuck’s sake.”

Lance wanted to roll his eyes but his gaze was frozen on the road ahead of him. Not everyone owned a motorcycle they could ride to infinity and beyond. Everytime he hit a pothole, he had to pray that his poor car won’t come apart.

When they finally got to his house, Lance briskly walked to the door and went in, kicking his shoes off. The delightful smell from the kitchen and the soft humming told the good news that his mother was home. His Mamá wouldn’t let anyone hurt him. Maybe Keith could get a taste of her magical flying slipper that never misses its target?

“Mamá, I’m home,” Lance said, turning to Keith. He noted that he had taken his shoes off as well. The red boots were neatly placed alongside his. “And I have a... classmate with me.”

She came out of the kitchen with a smile on her face, as if she wasn’t welcoming a delinquent into her home. “You must be Keith. I heard Lance was going to tutor you,” she said, giving Keith kiss on the cheek. Lance was horrified. His sweet mother was giving the most evil person on Earth a welcome hug. “I’m Flora.”

“Um… nice to meet you,” Keith said, eyeing her strangely.

“I’ll have your snacks ready in a little bit,” she said, turning to Lance and giving him a kiss as well. “Welcome home Lance. How was school?” she asked, already on her way back to the kitchen.

“It was… okay,” Lance said. How could he tell his mother that he was scared the whole day because of this tutoring session?

Figuring his chances of being murdered that night was higher if he led Keith to his bedroom, he decided to bring him to the living room instead. Their living room wasn’t big and it was even more cramped with all the family photos. Pictures of him and his siblings decorated every corner, while the walls were filled with medals and certificates from all his siblings’ accomplishments. There was only one thing with Lance’s name and it was a participation certificate for his piano recital when he was eight. Beside it was a picture of kid Lance dressed in a suit, playing Somewhere Over the Rainbow with intense concentration.

“So please take a seat and um… let’s look at your homework,” Lance said.

It shouldn’t be hard right? Maybe teach him a few vocabulary words and grammar points? Keith dropped a book in front of him and then handed him a piece of paper.

“It’s um… pretty easy actually,” Lance said as he read the questions.

“Great. Then you have no trouble answering it for me,” Keith said.

“Hold on. You’re going to make me answer it?” Lance asked. “You don’t even want to learn?”

“I just got to pass. I don’t have to know anything,” Keith said, leaning back on the couch.

With his mouth slightly open, he stared at him with wide eyes. He can’t believe this guy was wasting his time. Instead of spending time with Allura, he was going to be answering Keith’s Spanish homework. He didn’t notice his mother placing the snacks down on the coffee table until Keith reached for a garlic knot.

“I’m not doing your homework for you. You said you needed a tutor.” He tried to hand the paper back to him. “Why should I even do this for you?”

“Lance?” his mother called. “Your brother called. He said Nadia’s sick. I’m going over there. Are you two okay by yourselves?”

Lance’s eyes widened. He can’t be alone with Keith! Before he could say anything, Keith shoved his books towards him and said, “We’ll be fine Flora. Thank you.”

With that, his mother went out of the door. He placed the books down.

Keith looked to where Flora went, almost as if he was making sure she was out of reach. He stood so was taller than Lance. “Because, I could get you in the Garrison,” he said. Lance paused. He did not expect to hear that. “I saw your form. It was practically blank. The Garrison only accepts exceptional students.” 

Damn, he was hitting him where it hurt.

“As if yours was better.”

“It doesn’t matter what mine looks like, I have Shiro to back me up,” Keith continued.

“Wait. Shiro?” Lance asked.

“Yeah,” Keith said, looking away. “He’s... my best friend.”

As much as Lance wanted to talk back, he found himself at lost for words. Shiro was the Garrison’s best. He was a hero for a lot of people. All the research he has done in space paved way for so many innovations on Earth. And Keith knew him personally. Obviously, Shiro had all the power that his sister didn’t. He could get anyone he favors in the Garrison. That gave him an idea.

Yesterday, at the tour, Shiro seemed to know a lot about Keith. By the way Keith talked about him now, Lance assumed that they do indeed know each other very well. They were good friends and while Lance was jealous about that, he thought that perhaps he should be getting on Keith’s good side. If he were to befriend Keith, he could get to know Shiro as well. He’d know his hero personally and get into the Garrison at the same time. That was all Lance had dreamed about.

“Look, I’m going to tutor you. I can’t just answer your homework for you because you have to learn,” Lance said. “I’ll make sure you get a good grade though.”

Keith raised a brow as if his defiance was confusing for him. He stared at him for a moment before letting out a sigh. “Fine. But we’re doing this here at your house and like the other incident…” The were definitely calling it ‘the incident’ now. The more he thought about it, the more he did prefer it to ‘the time he saw walked in the music room and saw Keith being fucked into the piano’. That was quite a mouthful. “-you’re not allowed to tell anyone about this.”

“Deal,” Lance said.

“You know the consequences…”

“Yes, yes. If this gets out, you’ll kill me.”

After that, everything went pretty normal. Lance explained and Keith listened. Lance asked and Keith answered. Of course he’d get a sarcastic retort here and there but overall, Keith wasn’t violent. The only thing that Lance hated was that Keith ate all the garlic knots. He despised him more for that.

“Your pronunciation is off,” Lance found himself saying when he got annoyed.

Keith shook his head. “I don’t need to sound like a native speaker.”

“It won’t hurt to roll your r’s a little bit,” he grumbled.

“Well excuse me for not growing up knowing Spanish,” Keith said.

Actually, Keith did better than he thought. It wasn’t like the other people he tried to teach. He learned fairly quickly and it made Lance wonder why he even needed a tutor. If he just went to his classes, he’d most likely pass.

“Give me your phone,” Keith demanded, his hand held out.

“W-what? No, please! You don’t want my phone! It’s old and grimey. Plus, it once belonged to my recently deceased grandfather so I’m afraid that it might have vengeful spirit that-”

“I’m going to put my number in! Jeez!” Keith yelled, interrupting him. “Besides, I don’t steal phones with no value.”

“No value? I’ll have you know that at the time it came out, it was-”

“Yes?” Keith looked up at him, an annoyed expression in his face, daring him to continue.

“Nothing. Why do I need your phone number?” Lance asked.

“Because I’ll be calling you. I don’t want to wait for you outside school and ride in that trash can you call a car anymore,” Keith said.

“It is a car…” In the loosest sense of the word.

As Keith copied his number on to his own phone, it started ringing. He sighed and then went to the farthest corner of the room.

“Shiro? Yeah, I’m done here,” he heard Keith say. “You’re not coming? Then who’s gonna pick me up?” Keith looked back at him with a deep frown and he imagined it was because he didn’t want to get back inside his dying car. The rest of the conversation was a series of inaudible mutters so Lance just cleaned up as he waited for Keith to hang up.

“I could take you home if you want,” Lance offered when he was done. He convinced himself that he was doing this so he could talk to Shiro again.

“That won’t be necessary,” Keith replied, seeming to be in a far worse mood than earlier.

There was honking from outside and he figured that it was Keith’s ride. Who could it possibly be if it’s not Shiro?

“I’ll see you soon Keith,” Lance said, attempting at a smile.

Keith paused at the door. “Yeah…”

Through the window, Lance watched him walk towards the shiny car. The window rolled down, revealing a man with brown hair and skin, who was around Shiro’s age. Lance knew this man. There were pictures of him along with Shiro all over the news a year ago. He just couldn’t remember what his name was.

“Hey Adam…” Keith said.


	5. Chapter 5

This isn’t happening.

Lance had to pinch himself to be sure that he wasn’t dreaming. He even got Pidge to do the same. Reality still felt very distant to him so when Hunk came along, he asked him to slap him which he generously complied with an extremely strong hand striking a hard blow on to Lance’s small, fragile back.

“Hunk! Not that hard!” Lance complained, rubbing the part that was hit.

His friend took a seat at their usual lunch table and then shrugged. “You said you wanted me to hit you. I thought you were choking on your food.”

“Lance is awestruck from Allura’s text earlier. She indicated that she wanted to have lunch today with him and his friends, which would be us,” Pidge said, not even looking up from her laptop. “That is the reason why he asked to be physically harmed. However, it didn’t do anything besides leave bruises on his body.”

“Wow Lance! That’s amazing! You’re finally getting a girlfriend,” Hunk said, hitting his back again but this time with pride.

Lance raised a brow at him. “You talk as if you already have one.”

“I do,” Hunk said, “and Shay is the prettiest and nicest girl in the whole world.”

“You met her once,” he pointed out.

“And our love blossomed from the fateful moment on the beach. Besides, with technology at how it is today, it feels like we’re never apart,” Hunk said, a wistful sigh leaving his lips.

“I got to hand it to you buddy. That long distance relationship thing is extremely difficult,” Lance said, a hand on Hunk’s shoulder. “But I’m glad that doesn’t have to happen to me. Allura is right-”

“Hey Lance,” Allura greeted.

 _Here_.

There it was again - the light illuminating from behind causing her to be the only one he could see and the angels singing heavenly music as she approached him. Allura was just on another level of beautiful. She was wearing a flowy blue dress today and he was convinced it was because he told her that his favorite color was blue. Lance could have sworn that nothing could ever ruin this day for him.

That was until he spotted Keith on the other end of the cafeteria, eating alone. He was reading something on his phone as he pushed around the food on his plate. It would have been a very sad sight if it weren’t for his hatred towards the guy. Suddenly, the angels stopped singing and the lights died down. Damn Keith. He was ruining the perfect moment!

“Is there something wrong Lance?” Allura asked as she sat down beside him.

Lance took one more look at Keith before shaking his head. “Nothing. Nothing’s wrong,” he said, smiling at her. “The quiz earlier was super hard huh?”

“Actually, I thought it was quite easy,” Allura said. “I didn’t even study.”

“Same here,” Pidge agreed.

He simply looked down and ate. Allura was not only pretty, she was smart too. With a deep breath out, he pushed away all of his bad thoughts, all the feeling of unworthiness and let out his funny side. Pretty soon, Allura was giggling at his jokes. Hunk and Pidge would chime into their chatting here and there. He was so glad that the girl of his dream got along great with his closest friends.

Somewhere between his joke about the cafeteria food and Hunk’s speech about how the unpalatability of the said cafeteria food could be remediated, Lance realized how happy he was in that fleeting moment. He wanted to enjoy it as much as he can because he knew once the bell rings, they were all off to their classes. There was just a small tug at his heart that stopped him from immersing himself.

A glance at Keith told him that he was still alone. Lance tried to reason with himself, thinking about all the times that Keith nearly killed him… which was surprisingly zero times. He had been very mean to Lance and his presence had always been intimidating but he had never actually did anything to hurt him. People walked past his table and quite obviously avoided him. Keith wasn’t doing anything to be welcoming either. He scowled down at his phone like when he learned that Shiro couldn’t pick him up from Lance’s place. The skull and cross bone shirt probably didn’t help either.

The kind and the logical part of his mind were arguing back and forth, giving him a massive headache.

 _Invite him over_ , the small voice in his head said.

 _No! He’ll just annoy you_ , another said back.

Lance could feel sweat run down his neck. The question kept echoing inside his brain. Should he or shouldn’t he? If he did, wouldn’t Keith just decline his offer? But if he didn’t, how will he know if he was okay? Keith’s fingers were tapping on his phone forcefully. There was a slight tremble to his hands, making Lance cause to think that Keith was distraught about something. What was he so upset about? Then the follow-up question of why did he have to know if Keith was okay popped into his already hurting head.

The clock was ticking. Every second wasted was a chance lost.

Keith slammed the phone on to the table. The impact could have shattered the glass. Their eyes met and what Lance saw was pure heartbreak. It was only then when Lance decided what to do and stood.

But the bell rang.

He looked away for a second to get his things but Keith was gone.

* * *

Instead of thinking about Keith the whole afternoon and wondering why he didn’t come to class, Lance just spend it with Allura. They were seated together and working together. All Lance could feel was his insides getting bubbly and light every time Allura laughed or asked a really good question to the teacher.

When it was time to go home, he walked with her out of the building and stood beside her as she waited for her father to pick her up.

“So um… there’s this movie and I really want to see it and um… I think you’ll like it too so maybe we could um… see it together?” Lance asked.

Allura moved forward and gave his hand a squeeze. “I would love to Lance.”

There was a weird dying sound that came out of his throat and his face was probably bright red. All he could think about, even as Allura got inside the car and waved goodbye at him, was that she touched his hand. It was a simple thing between friends but it still counted as something.

Still high from elation, Lance didn’t notice that he was being followed as he walked to his car. He was snapped out of his reverie when he was violently pulled by two huge guys and then pinned to the wall. Just when Lance thought his loser status was gone, his athletic classmates decide to put him back in his place.

The leader of the pack hated Lance since middle school. Lance didn’t mean to flirt with Nyma. She was just so pretty and she had just hit his head with a volleyball. He just wanted to give it back, tell her no harm was done and then leave. Apparently to her then boyfriend, smiling back at her qualifies as flirting.

“Oh… h-hey there Rolo,” Lance said.

“I saw you with Allura. I was just wondering when did you think it was okay to do that,” Rolo said, his horrible breath suffocating him.

“W-we were just hanging out. It’s no big deal.”

Rolo pushed him harder back into the wall. “No. There’s a reason why she’s with you. Tell us.”

“S-she likes me…”

Laughter erupted among the group, almost as if Lance told a very good joke.

“You? No way,” he said. “Tell me Martinez. Are you doing her homework for her or something?”

“No, she genuinely wants to hang out with me.”

“Cute girls don’t hang out with nerds unless they need something,” someone added.

Anger was starting to rise up into his chest, only being suppressed by his fear. Allura was a smart person. She did not need Lance to do her homework for her and she certainly was not the type of person to seek out someone to order them around.

“Well then. I think you’re the best person to ask this. Are the rumours true? Since Allura has this long white hair.” Rolo Leaned forward, a malicious grin on his face. “Does the carpet match the drapes?”

Lance didn’t even think. Hearing Allura being talked about in such an obscene way caused him to throw the hardest punch he could ever muster. A groan from Rolo told him that he actually hit him. He barely had time to celebrate before the rest of his crew lunged after him. He sunk to the ground, covering his head before he felt their fists attacking him.

Painful as it was, Lance forced himself to get up. He didn’t know anything about self-defense but he kicked and punched his way, desperately trying to protect himself.

“Stop it Rolo,” came a familiar voice.

The pain stopped but Lance knew he was probably bleeding somewhere. When he saw the blood on his fists, he blanched and stumbled back to the ground. He looked up and he saw Keith standing in front of the guys who were beating him up. He was several inches shorter and he didn’t look like he could take a punch with someone like Rolo, not to mention three other muscular guys.

“It’s just the emo kid, Rolo.”

“Yeah, we can take him,”

Keith raised a brow. “Well, I’m guessing since you’re not backing off, you’d be okay with me leaking your photos all over school.”

There was something miraculous happening. In Rolo’s eyes, sheer terror reflected within them. Somehow, Keith simply glared and caused him to back away like a scared puppy.

“Let’s get out of here,” Rolo whispered

Confused, the rest abandoned what they were doing to follow their leader.

Keith sighed and went to Lance, offering his hand. He was frozen on the ground, staring at him, dumbfounded. That was the coolest thing Lance had ever seen anyone do.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

How could someone so short stop four huge men with just plain words?

“Lance, what the fuck? Did you hit your head?”

He stood with a groan. “What was that? How did you do that?”

Keith shrugged. He turned around and started to walk away.

He wasn’t sure why he started following him. The sight of him looking so heartbroken in the cafeteria was permanently tattooed on the insides of his eyelids. Maybe it was that? It also could be him just using Keith to get to Shiro like what he had planned. Yes, it was that. Lance was going with the latter.

“Wait up!” he called out.

Keith turned towards him with a suspicious look. “What the hell do you want?”

Lance stopped in his tracks, looking down at the ground. “First, I want to thank you.”

“I have a horrible feeling that there’s a second.”

He chose to ignore that. “Second, I want to know how you did that.”

Keith paused for a second, scrutinizing Lance. “I thought of all people, you’d know what I was blackmailing him with.”

He furrowed his brows in confusion.

“I guess you didn’t recognize him with clothes on,” Keith said and Lance only understood then.

Oh. _Oh._

A horrible memory flashed before his eyes. The two sweaty butts grinding against each other. Keith’s killing glare that made him run for his life. And now the silhouette of Rolo’s body in the music room. How could Lance not know it was him?

“What?!” he exclaimed, thoroughly shocked. “That was Rolo?”

“Yeah well, before anything happened I managed to take a picture of him and I guess he doesn’t want anyone to know how small his dick is.”

How could he say all that with a straight face? How could Lance deal with that type of information?

Keith started walking away again and Lance just followed. His tongue clicked, making Lance know that he was getting annoyed by his presence. “Are you lost or something?”

“Um… where’s your motorcycle?” he asked

“I’m getting it fixed.”

“So Shiro is picking you up?”

Keith shook his head. “He was supposed to but,” he paused, “he’s not feeling well so I’m walking home.”

Raising, his hand up partly, he stepped forward. “I-I could take you,” Lance offered.

“In the trash can you call a car? I don’t think so,” Keith said, shoving pass him.

“Hey!” he yelled indignantly. “Blue is an awesome car. She’s just going through some rough times.”

He gave a short laugh but his eyes were empty of humour. “You named your car? Only preschoolers do that.”

In the afternoon sunlight, Keith didn’t look so violent. In fact, he was quite pale and thin, like he needed his mother’s food inside his stomach at that very moment. It was strange though but somehow his eyes glowed almost unnaturally. They were a deeper blue.

Purple.

Lance had never seen such eyes like that.

“Let me take you home. I just want to repay you for saving my ass,” Lance said and Keith just stared at him, judging him intently for a very long minute.

With an exasperated sigh, he gave up and turned away, walking towards his car. He only feared that his new punishment for irritating Keith today would be greater than occasionally tutoring him in Spanish. Maybe he’d tell Shiro that he wasn’t Garrison-material. Shiro would definitely believe him.

“Just this one time and then I’ll never ever ride in that death machine ever again,” he heard Keith say.

Lance smiled brightly and led him to where Blue was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a week late because of the Holidays. Lol sorry. This is the beginning of Klance so expect to see them interact more in the next chapters. Please comment if you liked it :)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit heavy so please read with caution. If you don't want to read about panic attacks, skip the second part of this chapter. I worked hard on this chapter because this is the start of all the Klance parts. Please comment if you liked it!

They stopped their predator and prey relationship after Lance brought him home to his tiny little shack. It looked like it was once a nice home but it needed some serious renovation with the moldy wood and the broken front window. It made Lance wonder what sort of people Keith’s parents were. 

The next few tutoring sessions were actually quite peaceful and productive. Lance knew that Keith’s lack of cruelty didn’t particularly mean that he was warming up to him. He was just happy that he was going somewhere with him. Keith would come home with him and they would answer his homework. They even started conversations in Spanish and Keith understood him which meant Lance can’t badmouth him in his native tongue ever again.

“I’ll teach you Japanese curses if you teach me Spanish ones,” Keith said, out of the blue.

“Deal.” That’s how Lance found out how much curses went into anime. He actually had fun learning them.

It appeared like things were turning out fine. He wasn’t in mortal danger and Keith slowly started to tolerate him.

All of a sudden, Keith stopped going to his classes. Like totally stopped. It was almost as if he disappeared from the face of the Earth. Lance thought he’d pop up after a week of doing whatever but he was wrong.

At first, Lance didn’t know what to do with himself when Keith stopped appearing at his house for a lesson. He turned the television on but his attention would be on his phone, waiting for a call from one specific person. The next time it happened, Lance grew worried. He decided that he should confront him about it. Perhaps Keith was being kind enough to stop his torment?

He tried calling twice, thrice. Maybe five times but he never got an answer. He drove by his house but all the lights were off. It didn’t seem like anyone was in there. At this point, his friends could sense his distress.

“Lance, you look like something is going to pop out of your phone,” Allura said at lunchtime.

“Oh um… I’m expecting a call,” he replied.

“A friend?”

Could he consider Keith a friend? Probably a really distant one. “Yeah…”

“We’re all getting worried,” she said. “Pidge said you’ve been distracted since first period.”

“Right. Sorry. My  _ friend  _ just won’t pick up and I think he might be dead,” Lance said.

“You should call his parents then,” she said, her voice genuinely concerned.

That set on a light bulb on Lance’s head. He could ask Veronica for Shiro’s number. It would be nerve-wracking talking to his childhood idol like that but it was for Keith’s well-being. Plus, he’d impress Shiro by showing concern for Keith.

That night, after dinner, Lance sat down by his desk and turned on his laptop. Like all his things, it was an old device that was once owned by one of his siblings. It was probably Luis’ but Rachel used it for a little while too. He started to call Veronica, a smile coming to his face when her image appeared on the screen.

“What do you want now Lance?” she asked with an eye roll.

“I can’t call my cool big sister without wanting something?”

“You can but you usually call me with  Mamá  watching behind you.” She rested her chin on her palm. “Now, what is it?”

It was now or never.

“I need Shiro’s number.”

Veronica paused for a moment. Lance thought the Wi-Fi was being its crappy self again but his sister blinked. “That’s easy Lance but I can’t just give you a captain’s phone number for you to fan girl over!”

“No! It’s not that,” Lance said, trying to think of a way to explain. He let out a deep breath. “It’s Keith.”

She frowned. “The bully who took your money? Why didn’t you say so? Let’s kick some manners into his butt.”

“No! I mean, yes. That Keith but,” Lance sighed, looking away from the screen. He found his guitar, sitting in the corner with its strings still broken. “He’s not that bad.”

“What do you mean? I thought Hunk and Pidge said he’s the scariest person in your entire school?” she asked.

“Yeah. He still is but recently he’s been sorta nice to me. I tutor him in Spanish, you see and he’s not that bad.”

It felt so weird being vocal about what he felt towards Keith. He had never had a chance to talk about him before.

“So you’re friends now?”

Why did everyone have to ask him that? Can’t he just be concerned for someone without being friends with them?

“I guess so?” he said, still quite not sure.

“Okay. I still don’t understand why you need Shiro’s number.”

“He hasn’t been coming to our tutoring sessions or class. I haven’t seen him for a week so I’m just worried I guess,” Lance admitted.

“Worry plus your inner fan girl wants to talk to Shiro,” Veronica said. She knows him too well. No wonder she’s his favorite sibling. “Alright. I’ll tell you but don’t be too weird with him. He’s just a regular person just like you and me.”

“I don’t think anyone who has ever been to the moon, to Mars, and ten asteroids is ever a normal person.”

Veronica laughed at that. “Still. By next year, you’ll be studying here and possibly training under him. I just don’t want you to embarrass yourself.”

Lance scratched the back of his head, chuckling nervously. He didn’t know why his sister had so much confidence in him. “Yeah, I’ll try not to,” he replied.

“I’ll text you the phone number,” she said. “Good luck baby brother. Next time, call me when you don’t need anything.”

“Will do.” Lance brought his hand to his head in salute as the call ended.

Not even ten seconds later, he received a text message from Veronica. Seeing Shiro’s number on his phone caused his heart to pound out of his chest. His idol was a normal person with a normal phone number that could be called. It was a mind blowing concept.

Keith probably knew this number.

He looked at the clock and it was still a suitable time to call someone. He took a deep breath in and pressed call. It rang only twice before a voice he knew so well answered.

“Hello?” came Shiro’s voice.

“I-I um… hi. I’m um… Keith’s classmate,” Lance said, his voice shaking and higher pitched.

“Keith?” Shiro appeared to be in a room full of people. The noise went away, making Lance think that he went somewhere private. “Do you happen to know where he is?”

His brows furrowed in confusion. Not even Shiro knew where he was? Lance thought they were really close friends.

“No, I was just about to ask you,” he said. “Keith hasn’t been going to school or to my house for tutoring.”

“Ah, you’re Lance,” Shiro said. Lance almost died when he heard his name. The Shiro knew who he was! “Keith told me you were teaching him Spanish. Have you checked his house yet? I haven’t had the chance to go.”

“Um… I think it’s empty. No one’s in there. Not even his parents.”

There was a pause. Lance thought about what he just said that could have offended Shiro. “He never told you? Keith’s an orphan.”

Somehow, Lance wasn’t surprised with the new information. Keith always looked so awkward when his parents were in the room. Originally, Lance thought it was because his mom and dad were just too caring and welcoming but now that he knew that Keith was an orphan, he understood his discomfort.

“My parents took him in. We were his foster family when he was younger but now that he’s eighteen, he moved back in the house his father left for him.”

“So… he’s all alone?” The moment Lance said it, he started thinking about the pitiful look on Keith’s face whenever he thought he wasn’t looking. In school, no one wanted to talk to him. How could anyone survive without a friend to talk to?

“Not really. He has Cosmo, his dog. I hope Keith didn’t leave him all alone though,” Shiro said.

The dog-lover in Lance was suddenly panicking for the poor puppy left all by his lonesome in the creepy house.

“Listen Lance, I’ll be even more busy in the next few days. I can’t check on Keith or Cosmo.” Shiro said before letting out a deep, exhausted breath. “I guess I’m asking if you could do it.”

He didn’t get a chance to think so Lance said the first thing that came to his mind. “Sure?” his answer came out as more of a question than a reply.

* * *

The shack was even creepier up close. The land around it was dry and barren with only a single dead tree, dangerously leaning close to the roof. To Lance, it looked like a place where the psycho ax murderer in horror films lived. Hesitantly taking a step towards the front door, Lance breathed out to keep himself from running off to the opposite direction. There was a mean aura surrounding the house, like whoever lived there was most likely an evil spirit. Well, Keith didn’t exactly have a friendly soul so it was probably his angry temper reflecting horribly on the property.

All Lance had to do was check if Keith was inside the house and then feed the dog. If he was as tamed as Shiro said he would be, he could probably take him out for a walk. The rumours of Keith feeding his enemies to his huge bloodthirsty dog were ridiculous but Lance was still horrified by the chance of getting rabies if he was bitten.

Shiro said that Keith kept a key hidden under one of the floorboards. Lance’s foot pressed down on each board to find the loose one. It wasn’t terribly difficult to find, just disgusting to touch a key covered in what looked like ten years of filth. He wiped it on his shirt and then opened the door, slowly.

This was the part in movies where the ghost would pop out and scare the shit out of the protagonist. Lance had closed his eyes as sweat dripped down his neck. He gulped and peeked inside and what he found was… nothing. He sighed and turned the lights on. Now, he could see the bare living room properly. In the middle was a coffee table made up of cinder blocks and planks of wood. There was what looked like a daybed and all around where some bookshelves with the most random book Lance had ever seen. It was a huge mess with scraps of paper littering everywhere but it wasn’t as scary as Lance though it to be.

From the corner of his vision, he saw two glowing blue eyes in the darkness of the small kitchen. Lance thought that it was the end of his life. He took a step back, stumbling into a chair as the figure moved closer. A black dog emerged, barring his huge teeth. He closed his eyes and waited to get bitten but what came next was just a gentle licking at his face. He looked at the dog and found him wagging his tail at him. It was a black Siberian Husky and he was very friendly.

“You must be Cosmo,” Lance said with a smile. “Is your owner around? Did he feed you?” He got a bark in response.

He pet him for a few seconds before heading into the small kitchen, looking for his kibble. Once he found it, he took his food bowl and noticed that it was still full.

“Did you not eat buddy?” Lance asked the dog.

Actually, Cosmo didn’t look like he hadn’t eaten for days. He actually looked quite healthy and clean as a beloved dog should be.

There was another noise. Lance jumped and hid behind the big dog. This time, the sound was a muffled crying coming from the other room. From the echo, it sounded like it was coming from the bathroom. By that point, Lance was sure that the old place was haunted and that the vengeful spirit was now off to spook him to death.

Then, the dog just had to go inside the said haunted room. “No Cosmo! Wait,” Lance said as he hesitantly followed him inside, having no choice but to do so.

He breathed out to calm himself down. He shouldn’t be scared. Shiro was asking him a favor so he had to make sure that he did it well. Lance turned the lights on and nearly jumped at the pale body crouched down in the corner.

“Keith?” he called out.

The sobs continued as if Lance wasn’t there. Keith was sweating even though it was pretty cold inside the room, close to freezing. The rapid rise and fall of his chest and the teary shine of his eyes made Lance slowly kneel down in a pointless attempt to comfort him.

This was a panic attack.

Lance was no expert but he knew the signs. Right away, he took his jacket off and draped it on Keith’s shoulders but he wasn’t responding to him.

_ Shit. Fuck. _ This wasn’t the time to panic too. He scrambled for common sense but his mind wouldn’t cooperate.

“It’s me Lance,” he said, still not getting a response. “What do you need? Water? Can you tell me?”

Of course he can’t. Lance berated himself for being so stupid.

Wide eyes with dilated pupils looked at him and the sight made Lance’s heart shatter into a million tiny pieces. Keith’s gaze was so far away as if Lance wasn’t right in front of him. Lance was aware that he needed something to ground him.

He took his hands. “Can you hear me Keith? I need you to start breathing properly. Breathe in,” he said, wiping the sweat off his forehead. He waited a few seconds before speaking again. “and then breathe out.”

They sat there in the cold, dark corner of the bathroom, that smelled like it hadn’t been cleaned in days, for about ten minutes. Lance wasn’t sure if he was making any progress with Keith until he felt the rasping breaths slow down to a steady rhythm.

“You’re fine Keith. I’m here.”

Another minute of labored breathing passed before Keith finally quieted down, leaning against the tile wall. Lance didn’t really know what else to do, so he did the only thing he could think of. After a tiring cry, his mother would put him in bed and then give him a recharging hug. He assumed that it was the universal way to make a sad person alright again.

With all of his strength, Lance helped Keith up and slowly brought him to lie down on the day bed. He covered him with the thickest blanket he could find and had Cosmo lie down at his feet. It looked like he was going to be there until Keith was okay. 

Grabbing his phone and texting his mom that he was going to be out late, he went into the kitchen to cook something. It was possible that Keith hadn’t eaten in days so he was going to be very hungry when he’s done with his nap. He opened the fridge and was shocked with how empty it was. Only cans of soda, three eggs, and a bright green container of something that had already gone bad. Lance looked around some more and found enough ingredients to make a very simple soup that both his parents would call a disgrace.

Fifteen minutes later, he had Cosmo sniffing at his feet. He just smiled at him. “Not for you. This is for Keith,” he said.

The dog howled at him.

“Yeah, your owner with the stupid mullet. Now, be quiet. You don’t want to wake him up, do you?” Lance said.

Cosmo continued to whine, nudging his legs. Lance sighed and took the pot off the stove. Apparently, the dog had the patience of his owner because Cosmo bit his shirt and started pulling him towards the living room.

“Cosmo! We can’t go for a walk right-” Lance paused when he got to the living room. “...now.”

Keith was awake and glaring at him.


	7. Chapter 7

What was left over of the panic from earlier were just his blood-shot eyes and a dripping red nose. Other than that, Keith looked like the same old bully he’d encounter everyday at school with his killing scowl and immovable posture.

“How did you get in?” Keith asked. “Who asked you to?”

“I-I was just…” Lance was suddenly at loss for words.

“You were just what Lance?” he demanded again, his voice a mixture of frustration and hot anger.

“Shiro told me to check on your dog and feed him. That’s it.”

The air between the grew heavier as the silence prolonged. Keith was still staring at him as if he had done something to offend him once more. Lance just stood there, waiting for something, anything. He hoped for a thank you but with the looks of things, he was going to get kicked out for invading Keith’s home.

Keith was the one who broke the silence with a raspy whisper. “I am not weak.” Hearing him speak like that made Lance’s chest tighten.

“I never said you were.”

It just dawned on Lance that he wasn’t talking to him that time. Keith had spoken to himself. He desperately wished that he just kept his mouth shut. Now, Keith was staring daggers at him, still seeming quite dangerous even with the shattered expression on his face.

“Look, you don’t have to get mad at me,” Lance said, his hands up as if he was dealing with an enraged raptor. “I made soup for you.”

“Soup?” he repeated.

“Yeah! Maybe you’re just hungry? I could get a bowl for-” Before he could move, Keith hurled a pillow to his head. “What the hell?”

“Don’t treat me like a kid!” Keith had marched over to the front door and swung it open. “Get the fuck out of my house and leave me alone.”

With a sigh, Lance gathered his stuff and started walking out. Before he took a step outside, he swung around and asked faintly, “Why don’t you want my help? What have I done for you to hate me?”

“I don’t have an opinion on you.”

“But you really don’t like me,” Lance said, standing just within an arm’s reach of him. “Surely it’s not because of what happened at the dance. I have never and will never tell anyone about that. I really just want to know why.”

Weeks now, Keith has been terrorizing his days with his foreboding presence. Not knowing why exactly was exasperating.

“Whatever happened to you leaving me alone?”

“I want to help you Keith. Sure, Shiro did tell me to come here but I genuinely want you to be okay,” he said, making sure his voice was as gentle as possible.

“Why would you even care?” Keith yelled. He took a step forward, almost closing in their distance. “Ah, I get it now. I know your type. You’re using me to get to Shiro. Since you barely have a chance to get in the Garrison, you’re doing everything you can to please him.”

“N-no… it’s not like that,” Lance said, his voice wavering.

“This isn’t the first time someone has done this, you know? After all, the only reason why anyone would even attempt to interact with me is because of him. You,” he paused, inspecting Lance from head to toe. “-think you can manipulate me. I’m not dumb.”

Lance shook his head but honestly, he wasn’t sure with himself. He wanted everything that Keith said to be words made from anger but Lance knew deep down that there was some truth to his heated declarations. If it weren’t for Shiro telling him to go, he wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place. However, there was a part of Lance that was terribly worried about Keith and he didn’t know whether or not his idol had an influence over that.

He pushed the thoughts away and looked at him, their gazes meeting. “I saw that you needed help. Keith, you could barely breathe earlier. I just had to stay and calm you down.”

“Well, isn’t that what everyone wants to see?” Keith asked.

His brows furrowed in confusion. Why would anyone want to see Keith suffering from a panic attack?

“Go ahead. Tell everyone how pathetic I am. Tell everyone I’m crazy. Spread more shitty rumors about me. I don’t care.”

_Of course you do._

As every second passed, Keith was making less and less sense. Up close, Lance could see several things that he had never noticed about Keith before. There was a light pink scar on his right cheek. His eyebrows were amazing and below them, his eyes were definitely a unique shade of purple. There was a painful red around them but they were still striking.

“Why would I do that?” he asked softly.

It was Keith’s turn to look perplexed, as if what Lance had said was the last thing he had expected to hear. He stepped back, almost tripping over Cosmo and pointed at the door again.

“Get out.”

“But Keith-”

“I said get out!” he repeated, more forcefully this time.

Lance stared at him for a second, not understanding anything that was happening, before turning around to walk away. As he got inside his car, he heard the loud slamming of the front door, causing him to jump in surprise.

This was not how Lance thought this day would go. One minute, he was practically cradling a sobbing Keith in his arms and then the next he was being thrown out of his house. He didn’t even know what happened to him and why he had a panic attack all of a sudden. It seemed so unlike Keith to feel any other emotion other than anger.

Of course Keith was human too and he could be vulnerable.

As he drove back to his house, he kept thinking about how broken Keith looked and no matter how much he tried to push the thought away, it came coming back. The image of Keith sitting in the corner of the bathroom with his knees pulled up to his chest as he cried made a lump form in Lance’s throat. Keith just didn’t deserve to feel that kind of pain.

* * *

The feeling of pity started to subside the moment he saw Keith attend classes again. In fact, Lance was relieved to see his mullet around again.

 _He was going to be okay. He’s not dead_ , Lance thought.

Lance was just feeling a little bit unsettled. It was almost as if Keith couldn’t see him. He thought that maybe he was just avoiding him out of embarrassment or pride. The latter being the most likely one. This was supposed to be good news for him. Death wouldn’t be coming anytime this year for him and he wouldn’t have to help anyone on their Spanish homework again.

A week after the incident, Lance started to forget what Keith looked like when he cried. He forgot how he sounded. He was even hanging out with his friends again. Pidge got a Family Computer and tweaked the games to make them more challenging. Super Mario had never really interested him as a kid because he used to always lose. Before he believed that he couldn’t ever save Princess Peach but now he was fucking sure with all the new killer levels his genius friend added.

“Interesting. Lance keeps dying twenty seconds in,” Pidge muttered as she wrote down in her notebook. “Most likely from heartbreak because Allura had to cancel their movie date.”

“Don’t remind me.” Lance groaned when he lost again. “Am I your test subject again?”

“You and Hunk,” she corrected.

“It’s fun testing though and non-violent. We won’t get hurt like last time. Laser tag 2.0 is definitely a no-no,” Hunk said, taking the controller from Lance.

“Especially with actual lasers that almost zapped my eyebrows off.” Lance agreed. He could still feel the line of heat on his forehead.

Pidge rolled her eyes. “Stop complaining. It was an accident and I apologized already.”

They kept going until Pidge got her desired results. Lance was about to lean back on the couch when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He fished it out and frowned at the five texts he received. Panicking, Lance called the sender, thinking that it was his Mamá, wanting him get back home immediately. It wouldn’t be the first time that he got grounded because he didn’t answer her texts in two minutes.

“Hello?” His voice was hesitant because of course, he didn’t want to be yelled at in Spanish.

“Lance, I know you probably don’t want to talk to me right now. I swear I don’t even want to talk to you,” came a voice that was definitely not his Mamá’s Spanish scolding.

“Keith? What? Why are you…?”

He heard Keith take a deep breath. “Shiro is in some terrible shit right now. He was supposed to propose to his boyfriend tonight but he forgot the ring. He’s hiding behind the restaurant’s dumpster for fuck’s sake!”

Lance forced himself to snap out of his shock. “That’s horrible but what do you need me?”

“I need your car and your piano-playing because the shithead Shiro hired to play their song didn’t show up.”

“My car?”

“I have the ring in my pocket now and I need to get to the restaurant quick.”

“But you don’t like my car!” Lance exclaimed. “You called Blue a death machine.”

“ _Please_ ,” Keith said, his voice sounding so desperate. Aside from the massive boost to his ego, Keith pleading to him made a strange sense of sympathy nag at his mind. “Please. After this, I won’t bother you ever again.”

“Keith…”

“This is important to me.”

He hardly explained to Hunk and Pidge why he had to leave so soon. He probably muttered out fragments of a reason and a goodbye. Suddenly, Keith was the only thing in Lance’s mind. Even as he raced his car towards where they agreed they would meet up, it was all just Keith and nothing else.

Lance even let out a smile when he saw him. Keith just frowned at him and got inside.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Keith said as he gingerly closed the door.

“That’s not going to fall off you know?”

“I’m not believing a word you say,” he replied. He shoved a piece of paper at him. “That’s the address. Now just drive and keep your mouth shut. I’m going to call Shiro.”

He looked down at the address and raised a brow. Altea was one of the fanciest places in the whole town. Only famous and important people got dinner reservations there, which Shiro obviously was. He started to drive, excited that he was actually going somewhere rich people ate.

“You should have said we were going to Altea! I would have worn better clothes,” Lance said.

“We’re just delivering an engagement ring.”

“And I’m playing the piano! What song am I playing anyway?” Lance asked. “Oh! Oh! Can’t Help Falling in Love? My Heart Will Go On?”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Let me ask Shiro.”

The rest of the ride was a comfortable silence. It actually freaked Lance out a little bit because he had never been comfortable with Keith around. Seeing Keith at his weakest point took away the unease he felt and showed him that he was only human.

“Angels Brought Me Here,” Keith said, breaking the silence.

“Um... really?”

He rolled his eyes. “I meant the song.”

“Oh. I know that song.” Lance started to hum it, imagining the right way to play the song in the mood that was suitable for a wedding proposal.

From the corner of his eyes, Lance could see Keith’s hands fidgeting over the ring box. At one point, he opened it up and let out a defeated sigh. It was a nice, shiny but plain ring. Somehow, he could imagine Adam wearing it proudly as he did a TED talk about space and following your dreams. Lance flinched when he heard the box close loudly.

“Could you be a little gentle with that? Engagement rings are expensive,” Lance said.

“Could you drive a little faster then? Or will this car of yours fall apart if you go faster than a grandma?” Keith retorted.

“Relax Keith,” Lance said. “We’ll get there just in time.”

Lance felt Keith’s eyes on him, like he was inspecting something on his face. Suddenly, he was worried that Pidge stuck a tracker on his forehead while he was distracted by the video game.

“You’re not scared of me anymore, are you?” Keith asked, a hint of surprise in his voice.

“No. Why would I be?” he replied, glancing at him. “I mean, you’re not as scary as people make you out to be. Your huge man-eating dog is actually just a big sweetheart for crying out loud!”

“People actually started rumors about Cosmo too huh?” Keith said in incredulity. He took a deep breath. “I’m not what people say I am but I have done some horrible things. Those rumors actually have some basis behind them.”

“Are you trying to scare me again? Because if you are, it’s not going to work,” Lance said, “so stop trying to.”

That made another silence settle over them until they reached their destination. Keith looked ridiculously nervous when he got out of the car. Lance didn’t know whether it was because he was terrified of his car or if he was just nervous for Shiro.

“You should be the one to give it to him,” Keith said, handing the box over.

“What?” Lance took it and felt how expensive it was just by touching the soft velvet box. “Don’t you want to watch you friend get engaged?”

Keith shook his head. “Nah. I’m good. Besides, Adam has never seen you before so he won’t get suspicious.”

Lance nodded. “Okay um... Just tell Shiro I’m on my way. Where is he hiding now anyway?”

“The bathroom.” Keith rolled his eyes. “Just give him the ring and then play the song.”

The instructions were clear and all Lance had to do was go inside. The lonely look on Keith’s face was just stopping him from leaving at that very moment.

“I’ll be back right after,” Lance assured him and he didn’t know why.

Keith paused for a moment before replying, “Okay…”

With that, Lance ran into the restaurant. He told the staff that he really needed to use their bathroom and surprisingly, they let him in. Altea didn’t look like the pictures. It was even bigger and better. The huge crystal chandelier hung above him, shining brightly along with the other lights that gave the whole place a rich golden glow. People in tuxedos and beautiful gowns made him feel so under dressed but he had to move forward. A grand piano stood gloriously in the middle of the tables. He was going to play on that. That beauty!

Finally, he reached the men’s bathroom, which smelled like someone dropped a perfume bottle. Victorian paintings decorated the walls beside the mirror, making it seem like the painted men in tights were laughing at him.

“Shiro? It’s me Lance,” he said. “I have the ring.”

Shiro quickly came out of the stall. It was unfair how nice he looked even with the disheveled hair. “I can’t thank you enough Lance. Where’s Keith?”

“Back in the car um...sir.” He cringed at himself for sounding so lame. “He didn’t want to ruin the surprise if Adam sees him.”

“Right. Could you really play the song?” Shiro asked.

Lance nodded quickly. The shock of talking to the man he idolized for years never wore off. The idea of playing for him and his boyfriend was way beyond his wildest dreams.

Then his hand was on his shoulder. Lance could have floated away from happiness if it weren’t for Shiro weighing him down. “I-I’ll do my best Shiro,” he told him.

“Great,” Shiro said, smiling. _Smiling at him!_

They both left the bathroom. Lance noticed that he held the little box with his non-dominant hand and his right hand had some sort of bandaging around it. He must have hurt himself doing space stuff.

Shiro dropped him off by the piano and immediately went to his boyfriend. Adam looked better in person than in his pictures. He always looked serious in them but together with Shiro and all dressed up, he was absolutely stunning.

It must be so nice, having someone like that.

Not wanting to be impolite by staring, he looked down at the ivory keys and took a seat. Everyone was now looking at him at that point. Lance had played for people before but they were only parents of his friends and classmates, not rich and famous people.

Keith was watching from outside. He could spot his mullet and cropped jacket from anywhere.

With a deep breath, he started playing. As he did, there was only one person in his mind and he was watching from the window.

Panic rose up to his throat. He just kept playing with his trembling hands, making sure he was doing everything right. It has been so long since he felt this way. It was so close to what he felt for Allura but at the same time, it was so different.

More terrifying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Looks like Lance has a little problem huh? What do you think will happen in the next chapter? Please comment!


	8. Chapter 8

Clapping snapped Lance out of his deep thought. He turned towards Shiro and Adam’s direction and found them kissing as tears of happiness flowed freely down their faces. It was a beautiful scene - two people in love starting a new chapter in their lives while strangers cheered them on. Lance felt a tug at his heart as they held each other. He made that happen. He helped bring that unparalleled bliss to reality.

He finished the song and then looked at the window again. Keith wasn’t standing by the window. Instead, he was walking back to the car. The job was done so Lance assumed Keith just wanted to go home. He tried to sneak through the crowd of people gathered around the newly-engaged couple and head towards the exit.

“Lance!” Shiro called out, beckoning him to come over.

Of course, Lance turned around and went because he would never miss an opportunity to speak to his idol and meet his fiancé. He smiled back at them. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you very much,” Shiro said. He moved a little so he could introduce him. “Adam, this is Lance. Keith’s friend.”

“Yeah, you’re his Spanish tutor,” Adam said, giving a trembling handshake. At first, Lance thought Adam hated him and he wanted him to go away but he quickly explained. “My apologies. I still can’t believe what just happened. Thank you for playing our song.”

“And for the ring delivery,” Shiro added.

“M-my pleasure,” Lance said, still in awe that he just played a part in the engagement of two well-renowned astronauts and that they were thanking him for it.

“Where’s Keith?” Shiro asked. “I want to hug him.”

“I-I’ll go get him!” Lance volunteered. He rushed outside, needing some air to clear his head because his thoughts were in a loop of OMG’s.

Blue stood out against all the other vehicles in the parking lot and not because it was the only non-luxury car. Keith leaned against the car, his arms crossed over his chest. He looked cold in the cropped jacket that he had on.

“Let’s head home,” Keith said.

“Now? But Shiro wants to talk to you,” he said. “He actually wants to hug you.”

Keith let out a sigh and began walking back to the restaurant. Lance thought he must be very tired from the panic Shiro caused him but he should still congratulate his friend. Once they got back, the staff blocked them from entering.

“Do you have reservations, sir?” a woman around Lance’s mother’s age asked. She had red lipstick all over her teeth and her stern frown.

“What? I literally just came out of here,” Lance said.

“But do you have reservations?” she repeated.

Keith grabbed Lance’s wrist and pulled him along. “Out of my way. I’m just going to see my friend and then we’re leaving.”

His heart stopped for a moment because there was a definite spark that originated from Keith’s hand, shooting up to Lance’s whole arm. It was as paralyzing as the emotions he felt around fifteen minutes ago as he played the piano.

Before anyone could call for security, Shiro was by their side. “Don’t worry. They’re with me.”

As the staff walked away, Keith pulled his hand back. Lance finally gained his senses back.

Shiro pulled Keith in for a tight hug. The tightening of muscles around Keith’s small frame was a bit worrying. “Thank you so much for doing this.”

“So Adam actually said yes huh? That’s a surprise,” Keith teased.

“He worked so hard for this and I didn’t want to make him cry,” Adam said. “He still cried though.”

“Tears of joy,” Shiro said, pulling away from Keith and then wrapping an arm around his fiancé’s waist.

Lance felt like he didn’t belong there and that he was intruding in their family celebration. He wanted to go back to his car and figure out what the hell he was feeling but suddenly everyone had their eyes on him. There was a part of the conversation that Lance didn’t hear because he was too focused on his own thoughts.

“I said, what do you want to eat Lance?” Keith said, an annoyed look on his face.

“Order anything off the menu. Consider it our thank you for everything,” Adam said.

“Oh um… I already ate at my friend’s house so I’m not really hungry.”

“See? We’re not hungry.” Keith let out a sigh. “And we shouldn’t stay. It’s your engagement night. You two should celebrate together without anyone else to disturb you.”

“At least let us get you two dessert,” Shiro said. He called over a waiter and ordered Altea’s specialty for both of them. Cheesecake has always been up there on Lance’s favorite dessert list but Altea’s rainbow cheesecake was art.

Lance’s mouth hung open when the waiter came back with the vibrant cheesecake. One word that described it was glorious. He wanted to eat it right there but he needed something to put on his IG stories. He could even tag Shiro and thank him like they were close friends.

“This is the most beautiful cheesecake I’ve ever seen in my whole life,” Lance said, holding the box tightly to his chest. “Thank you!”

Keith shook his head as he received his. “It’s just food coloring,” he said.

Shiro gave Keith one more hug. “We’ll visit you and Cosmo for a proper celebration next week.”

“Can’t wait,” Keith said.

Lance noted that there was a sparkle in Keith’s eyes even though he tried to act bored. It must be great to have a big brother like Shiro. Keith was one lucky dude.

With a final wave, they left the couple and headed back to the car. He got in and waited for Keith to be seated before driving away.

“That was awesome,” Lance said. “I got to witness Shiro get engaged and I got to meet his boyfriend!”

Keith looked at him warily. “Isn’t homosexuality banned in your religion? Don’t you need to wash your eyes out with holy water too?”

At the intersection, Lance paused and then looked at him. “Keith, you think I’m against gay people?”

“That’s how it sounded when you freaked out at me that one time.”

The problem was Lance was supposed to be against it. His parents had raised him to pray and read the Bible. But he couldn’t understand why anyone should be hated for who they love.

“I-I...I’m not Keith,” Lance said. “I was just scared and when I get scared weird stuff come out of my mouth.”

The rest of the ride was silent. When they got closer and closer to Keith’s house, Lance’s heart started to panic. He didn’t want this to end just yet. There was so much he wanted to ask Keith and yet his mouth couldn’t make even one syllable. He stopped in front of the small house, giving him a smile. Before he could say goodbye to him, Keith regarded him for a second before taking in a deep breath.

“I want to thank you, for everything,” he said. It was obvious from his awkward tone that he wasn’t used to being grateful to someone. Lance wasn’t sure if he was hearing right so he just raised an eyebrow, causing him to continue speaking. “Like I promised, I won’t bother you ever again. Consider it like the night of the dance never happened. You don’t have to tutor me anymore.”

Lance took offense from that. “Don’t you like my tutoring?” he asked in confusion.

“No, that’s not it. I just,” Keith let out a sigh, “don’t want to trouble you any longer. Today was already too much. Altea’s so far away and then you had to play the piano.”

“Wasn’t it worth it though? Shiro and Adam are happy.”

Keith looked down at his feet, his shoulder slumped. “They’re very happy I guess. They’re getting married now after so many years of being together. It was worth it.”

Looking back at the day Luis got married, Lance remembered how he felt like he was losing his brother forever. Even though he wasn’t his favorite sibling, he was just so used to him always being there that when the day came, Lance felt betrayal for Luis leaving their family even though that wasn’t the case. He was simple expanding their family. On the other hand, Keith didn’t have the love and support that he had back then. It had always been him and Shiro so it was natural for him to feel like he was being left behind.

Loneliness was one of the emotions that Lance couldn’t stand. He couldn’t comprehend how Keith survived without anyone else in his life. Lance wanted to stay and keep Keith company but he worried that he was stepping out of bounds. He watched him get out of his car and close it cautiously.

Before he could drive away, Keith leaned towards the window and said, “Hey, do you want to come in and eat the cheesecake? I know you have your own but I’m afraid mine’s just going to rot in the back of the fridge”

That was easy. He didn’t even have to say anything.

Lance nodded excitedly. “Yes please. I love cheesecake.”

He got out of the car and went inside the house. As soon as Lance stepped it, Cosmo tackled him to the ground and started to lick his face. Keith looked annoyed as he was being ignored by his own dog.

“Hey there buddy,” Lance said, petting him. “You’re a teensy bit heavy though so could you please get off?”

“Cosmo, come here. I know Lance looks like a bone but he’s not.”

“Yeah, I’m not- Hey!” Lance sat up and frowned at Keith. “I know I’m thin but I’m not boney!”

Keith simply shook his head and went to get plates and utensils for them. Normally, only his friends and family could make fun of him but this time, he wasn’t really offended. Keith was giving him cheesecake after all.

“Here you go,” Keith said as he handed him a plate.

The dessert was even more beautiful sliced. He took it happily and sat down. He was just about to take a bite out of the purple layer when Keith spoke to him.

“I liked the soup you made.”

Lance dropped his fork. “What?”

“The soup. I finished it all. I guess I was hungry.” Keith was just looking down at his own plate, pushing the cake around.

“That? It was nothing.”

“Still. I want to thank you for it.”

Suddenly, Lance’s number one priority at that moment wasn’t to eat the deliciousness in front of him. Was Keith actually being nice to him? His stomach was cursing him for having such abnormal feelings but he placed his plate down and then gazed at Keith.

“I had fun today, you know? And… and I really want to spend more time with you,” Lance said, looking away. “You don’t have to be alone at school. You could always come join me and my friends.”

Keith scoffed. “I have an image of terror to retain.”

“Oh please. You’re not that scary. Especially after I saw you crying your eyes-” Sometimes Lance just didn’t know when to shut his mouth. Now, Keith was glaring at him. The old fear started to resurface regardless of how their day went.

The most bizarre thing happened. Keith started cracking up and it was far from the maniacal laughter that Lance had expected from him. Instead, it was warm and hearty “Man, you should have seen the look on your face. I thought you weren’t scared of me anymore?”

“I’m not! I-I just thought you wanted to say something so I was just being polite!”

“Stop with the bullshit. I can’t believe after you saw me having a panic attack, you’re still afraid of me,” Keith said, shoving a forkful of cake into his mouth.

Grumbling, Lance grabbed his plate and went back to eating. They both didn’t talk. Only the sound of their forks hitting the plates and Cosmo’s snores sounded out. Once they both finished eating, Lance wondered if he should offer to wash the dishes but decided against it because he knew once he got back home, he’ll be cleaning even more dishes.

Their hands brushed against each other when they placed their plates on the coffee table. It was there again, that spark. Maybe Keith was statically charged or something? He pulled his hand back as if nothing happened.

 _Nothing did happen_ , he reminded himself.

So he reached for the nearest object and it was a picture frame. In the photo was a young Keith, around six-years-old smiling at the camera with two front teeth missing and an older man who looked a lot like him now. The background seemed to be the very house they were in but it was all burned down.

“My Pop,” Keith said. “Our house burned down then and all that’s left is….” He gestured around him. “Good thing he was a firefighter.”

“Was?”

“There was another fire about a year later. It was… it was bad. So many kids were trapped inside the building and because he’s great like that, he went back in.” Keith took a deep breath in, sadness and regret covering his face. “He never got out. That’s how I got to live with the Shirogane’s.”

Lance leaned forward, wanting to know even more. “I’m sorry Keith. At least he died a hero right?”

“That’s what everyone told me but him being a hero won’t bring him back…”

He didn’t know what else to say but he wanted Keith to keep talking to him, to keep telling him real things about him but Lance didn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable. So he placed a hand on his shoulder. “Hey man, I’m not really good with this but you can always talk to me. You don’t have to suffer in silence like last time…”

“I never told you why I had a panic attack huh?” Keith said. Lance shook his head, waiting for him to continue. “You know I’m an orphan. That’s what I thought too.”

“What do you mean?”

“My birth mother, her name was Krolia, well, she came to this country illegally for a better life. She met my dad, they fell in love and then had me. Soon after that, she was deported and my dad couldn’t find her. She died just recently. I never got to meet her…”

It made sense. Lance knew Keith wasn’t the kind of person to break down so easily but even with his strength, the death the mother he never knew affected him so much.

“Well, I told you everything now. My mysterious persona doesn’t work on you anymore so I guess I’ll just have to kill you,” Keith deadpanned, instantly changing the mood.

Lance paused for a moment, a split-second of panic going through him. He then shook his head. “Ha, ha. You think you scared me? Well, you’re wrong about that Keith. You’re the least intimidating thing in the world! Cosmo’s more frightening than you.” He stuck his tongue out.

“Don’t exaggerate.”

He placed the frame back down. Only then did he notice the others. One was with Shiro and another was with an older Asian couple who were most likely Keith’s foster parents.

“Man, what’s wrong with you? You never smiled in any of these,” Lance said

“There are facial muscles to pull and it’s too much effort.”

“It wouldn’t hurt to show your teeth some more.”

“Like this?” Keith took the last bite of cheesecake from his plate and ate it but Lance didn’t mind one bit.

Lance’s heart was beating fast. When did Keith get that close? Was he the one who leaned in or was it Lance? This was wrong. So very wrong. What would his mom say?

“You have no idea how much I enjoy your company,” Keith said softly.

“I think I do.” Was what came out his mouth. At that point, Lance was sure that his mind stopped operating and his heart has taken over his whole body.

They kissed and it tasted like a rainbow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who reads! This chapter is my favorite. I love rainbow cheesecake lol. I hope you all liked it!


	9. Chapter 9

There really was something between him and Keith now but it was still unclear what it was. They kissed and while Lance did like it a lot, it made more questions pop up in his head and more dread to settle in the bottom of his stomach.

By this point, Lance was totally sure that he was bisexual. It started out with thinking Tom Hiddleston as Loki was cute and then next with seeing Shiro up close and personal with his herculean body and his broad smile. Now that he had his first ever kiss, with Keith no less, he was positive that he was attracted to men too.

Aside from not having anymore death threats, nothing much changed with him and Keith. The way they talked to each other was the same and the amount of time they spent together was unchanged. One difference was that Keith ate lunch with him and his friends. At first, it was an unpleasant experience with Keith just glaring at Hunk who looked like he was about to pee his pants but it soon grew more comfortable as time went on.

On the third day of Keith joining them, Hunk finally summoned the courage to speak to him. “So you’re um… friends now?” he asked

He already knew the answer because Lance ranted about his dilemma on their group chat. It was so easy to talk to his best friends about his problems. They accepted him with no judgement even if they were still confused about the whole thing.

“Yes. Do you have a problem with that?” Keith said and Lance nudged his shoulder to get him to act nicer.

Hunk shook his head. “No. No problem.”

Allura still joined them. Lance never really told her why Keith was there and how they became close. When she started talking to Keith out of the blue, Lance felt panicked and helpless. He didn’t know how to handle such an awkward situation and by the looks on Pidge’s and Hunk’s faces, they had no idea either. It was like sunshine trying to take over a storm. They pulled out their phones and started messaging each other.

**Group chat: Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell and so is Pidge**

Loverboy Lance is typing…

Science-wiz Pidge: This looks like it’s gonna be long.

Humorous Hunk: yeah. but can we agree that this is so weird?

Loverboy Lance: Does Allura look like she likes me? If she does, am I cheating on her? Am I a horrible person? And does Keith look more annoyed than usual? Holy fucking shit this is sooooooooo awkward.

Humorous Hunk: calm down buddy

Humorous Hunk: keith is just as annoyed as before

Loverboy Lance: Are you sure?

Science-wiz Pidge: Are you and Keith even dating? And does Allura even know that you like her?

That made Lance stop to think. Everything Pidge says made him think more intensely than usually. Her first question was unanswerable because while he hasn’t been on a date with Keith, they did kiss. The latter question hurt Lance because deep down he knew Allura thought of him as just a friend. The way she treated other people was the same way he was treated. It was only Lance who thought so much about it.

He looked down at his phone again and noticed that the chat nickname was changed to ‘Good-Bi Lance’. With a frown, he looked up at his friends. “Seriously?”

The two avoided eye contact with Lance, playful grins spreading on their face.

* * *

The day Keith got his motorcycle fixed, he called Lance. He almost dropped his phone when he saw that it was his probable boyfriend. Even when they already had kissed, he was still so shy about it. He was simply told to get ready and that Keith will be at his house to pick him up in ten minutes.

Lance’s veins filled up with adrenaline. He scrambled to get his teeth brushed and his face washed before struggling to put pants on. Lastly, he grabbed a jacket and rushed downstairs.

“Mamá, I’m going out with Keith!” Lance winced when he realized what he just said. Fortunately, his mom took it as the platonic kind of going out.

“Oh that nice boy you tutor. Invite him over to dinner later!”

He stopped dead in his tracks. “Um… okay, but he might not want to.”

Flora looked at her son and then approached him to fix his jacket. “Nonsense. He’s thin as a stick! I’ll go invite myself.” She went out the door when she heard the roaring of a motorcycle.

No matter how much he wanted to talk to his parents about his newly-confirmed bisexuality, words just won’t come out of his mouth. It had a lot to with his parent’s opinions and their close-minded views. There was nothing much he can do about it now.

So Lance promptly reminded himself that he had a pair of functioning balls and shoved his nerves away. He breathed out deeply and walked out with his gaze down. Suddenly, he found himself face-to-face with Keith.

Keith was in his usual dark attire and red cropped jacket but with his hair tied up in a small ponytail. He was a knock-out.

“Lance, Keith already agreed so you don’t have to ask him anymore,” she said, a huge smile on her face.

“That’s um… great.”

“I’m looking forward to it.” Keith said, stunned. When his mother left, Keith shook his head and threw a helmet at Lance “Ready?”

“I doubt this is safer than riding Blue,” Lance said as he got on behind.

“Hold on to something hard,” Keith said, a cheeky grin on his face. He obviously enjoyed getting Lance flustered. “I meant my abs.”

“You do not have abs.”

Keith started the motorcycle, causing Lance to hold on to him tightly. Their surroundings blurred out as they accelerated. All he could see was the side of Keith’s face under the helmet. Lance was so fixated on him.

“Where are we going?” Lance yelled above the strong blowing of the wind.

“Just taking Red for a spin and then we could just hang out somewhere.”

Lance looked at him, amused. “Red?”

“If you could name your car Blue then I’m naming this baby Red.”

They were literally riding into the sunset. Lance would have scoffed at the idea for being so lame but Keith was heading towards a cliff. They sped up along with the beating of his heart.

“Uh… Keith? I don’t want to fucking die!”

“Just relax,” he assured him, speeding up even more.

Lance closed his eyes tight. “Keith!” Then, they pulled to a stop. With his whole body still shaking from fear, Lance hopped down the motorcycle and took the helmet off. He swirled around, infuriated at the other. “Why the hell did you do that?”

A hand was suddenly grasping his, giving it a tight squeeze. Keith smiled at him and then gestured out to the open area. “The sun is setting.”

Warm tones blended with the cool colors of the night, as the sun slowly went to hide behind the silhouette of the faraway hills. It was absolutely breathtaking.

At the back of Lance’s mind, he thought that this felt pretty romantic for a casual hang out with a bro. Obviously, it wasn’t anything like that. He gulped and then looked at Keith’s face. When he was relaxed and carefree, he looked a little handsome. The sunlight was hitting his face at the best angle, making his purple eyes gleam and Lance’s heart ache.

Lance had to correct himself. Keith was very handsome.

“Keith,” he found himself saying. He turned towards him, his face only a couple of inches away. “What are we?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, are we like together now or something?”

Keith let out a dry chuckle, making worry start to rise up in him. “I have never heard that before from anyone,” he said. “What do you want to do?”

“Well honestly you’re a pain in the butt and I think your mullet is stupid but,” he paused, looking up to meet his gaze, “I like spending time with you and talking to you is fun too. Plus, when we kissed, I saw stars.” He stopped to keep himself from getting more embarrassed than he already was.

Now, Keith was staring down at him, his lips thinning into a frown as his eyes inspected Lance’s face. He opened his mouth as if to speak but closed it in hesitation. Out of frustration, he let out a groan and scratched his head.

“I’m going to tell you something and you better not fucking interrupt me,” Keith said. His hand was still holding his tightly. “I know you would want to say something because that’s the way you are. You like talking and being heard but you have to let me finish. Understood?”

Lance briefly wondered if this was where Keith was going to tell him that he wasn’t interested in him romantically. He almost regretted asking. With terror filling him, he nodded.

“This all started on the night of the dance,” Keith stated. “Everyone should have been in the gym but since fate or some weird shit like that wants to bring us together, you went to the music room.”

“Um… Keith, I remember that. What does this have to do with-”

Keith raised a hand to stop him from talking. “I said, let me finish.” He waited a few seconds to be sure that Lance was completely quiet, giving him a stern look. “You walked in and you only saw how mad I was but I wasn’t just mad. I was embarrassed. That’s why I wanted you to stay quiet about it.”

Lance bit his lips. He felt like he was going to be rejected. He could probably handle it. The sting in his eyes could be blamed on the strong wind and not on his emotions.

“I’ve been with so many people but none of them actually felt something for me. They just wanted to experience having gay sex with the scary guy.” He let out a breath before looking down. “I guess I liked how it felt. The positive attention, even if it’s just for a moment, feels nice.”

Their eyes met once again as he tried to squash the sudden hope he felt.

“Even when I was being horrible to you, you were always so good to me but in my head, I convinced myself that you were only doing that because of Shiro. Honestly, sometimes I still think that…”

Guilt dawned on him at his words. He did plan on using Keith to get closer to Shiro but somewhere along the way, he lost his path and found another much better one. He’d rather have Keith in a forbidden romance than Shiro’s approval. It was selfish but it was what made Lance happy.

“I guess what I’m saying is I’m a messed up person and I don’t want you to be burdened with all this but if you could put up with me, if you’re willing to do this, we could be together,” Keith said.

Lance closed in their distance. “You’re never a burden,” he said simply. After all, Keith was far better with words than him. He just didn’t know it.

“It’s official then,” Keith confirmed.

While bathing in the golden glow of the setting sun, they leaned toward each other and pressed their lips together. Whether it was Lance’s or Keith’s doing, he didn’t care because he was so lost in the kiss that they shared and how his lips melted against Keith’s.

* * *

“We’re going to be late! Go faster!” Lance yelled against the wind.

Watching the sunset with his new boyfriend definitely was something he shouldn’t do too often because time seemed to go by faster while he was holding Keith’s hand. Now, they were racing to get back home on time.

Keith rolled his eyes. “I thought you didn’t want to die?”

“Mamá would kill me if we’re late for dinner!”

“You’re overreacting. Your mom’s a nice lady.”

“I probably am but I do not want to risk not getting dessert and let me tell you, Mamá’s cakes are like heaven on Earth.”

“They have weed in them or something?”

Lance pinched his boyfriend’s sides and chuckled at the inappropriate comment.

Once they got back to Lance’s house, Keith turned around and gave him a kiss on the lips. He pushed him away and then looked at the windows, wondering if anyone saw them.

“W-we can’t,” Lance said.

Confusion and betrayal flitted across Keith’s face. “You don’t want your parents to know?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

“I-I just… I’m not ready for this just yet. My parents know I’m straight and that I have a crush on Allura,” Lance said, looking down. He didn’t want to see the hurt on Keith’s face. “I’m sorry Keith. Can we talk about this later?”

Keith nodded, his arms crossed. “Yeah, I guess I understand.”

They went in and Flora’s warm smile greeted them. The house smelled like a restaurant as usual. Lance smiled when he saw Keith sniff the air. He could be so cute when he thought no one was watching.

At the dining table, Lance’s father was already seated. His aunts and uncles always joked that if Lance grew a beard and didn’t sleep for a week, he’d look exactly like his father. That was the main reason why Lance shaved and slept regularly.

Flora hits her husband with her apron. “Diego, don’t be rude and greet our guest.”

Diego didn’t seem to be hurt by his wife’s fury. He simply looked up from his smart phone and smiled just as warmly as his wife. “You must be Keith.”

“No phones on the table,” Flora said.

“I was just watching Sylvio and Nadia’s dance video. They have talent but I wish Luis doesn’t encourage it too much in our grandson. It’s too effeminate. I hope he doesn’t turn out to be gay.”

He showed the video to Flora and she nodded. “It could be a phase dear. It will pass.”

Lance’s heart stopped.

It wasn’t really shock that struck him—no, this was something that regularly came out of his father’s mouth. He also knew that his mother, even though she seemed welcoming, was quite ignorant on matters like this. What really struck him was how concrete his secret was. His parents were wishing, praying that his cousin wouldn’t turn out like him.

“Take a look at this Lance. It’s a bit inappropriate for him huh?” his mother asked him.

It was far from inappropriate. Lance watched his adorable niece and nephew dance to a song from a newly-debuted Korean girl group. He watched the music video on YouTube enough times to know that they were both doing the right dance steps. They were both talented but apparently, performances like this one were only suitable for girls like Nadia and never for little boys like Sylvio. Lance was at loss for words so he looked up at Keith to see if he had anything to say.

Keith was standing apart but close enough to watch the video and see that there was nothing wrong. He had been watching him, his face blank and inscrutable. When their gazes finally met, his heart broke. There were blazing fury and sadness behind those purple eyes of his.

All he wanted was to make the hurt go away. Maybe a hug or a kiss? He was so close to exposing himself. The only thing in Lance’s mind in that moment was to go to Keith and assure him that it was okay. He was only a step away.

Then Keith’s phone went off, causing Lance to snap out of it.

The fury was immediately replace with worry and panic as Keith read the text he received. “I’m sorry. I have to go.”

“Oh but you just got here Keith,” Diego said. “We were just about to have dinner.”

“I’m terribly sorry but it’s an emergency.” Keith looked at Lance. “It’s Shiro.”

“I’ll pack some food for you,” Flora said, already taking out a food container and paddling out the stew into it.

“It’s okay really.”

Flora held her hand up. “I insist.”

Once Keith received the filled container from Flora, him and Lance went outside.

“What’s going on?” Lance asked. “What happened to Shiro?”

Keith got on the motorcycle and struggled to get his helmet on with shaking hands. “He’s in an ambulance, being rushed to the hospital. H-he’s sick.”

“This...isn’t because of what my parents said right?”

“No! Lance, the answer is no, okay? What they said was horrible and incredibly ignorant but they’re nice people,” Keith said. Lance had a feeling he was just saying that to be polite. “I-I’m used to words like that and people like them are sort of hard to change.”

Lance nodded miserably before looking around. Once he confirmed that the coast was clear, he snuck in a kiss. “I hope Shiro gets better. Call me when everything’s okay or when you need anything.”

With a small smile, Keith started his motorcycle. “I’ll call you once I get there.”

Lance watched as Keith drove off. His boyfriend did not need his parents’ negativity right now. He was going through enough already. Lance just wished that he’d have the courage to tell them off someday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it’s official! They’re finally dating. I had trouble with this chapter because I didn’t know how to get them together while staying true to their personalities. I hope I did okay. Also please point out any bits that don’t make sense. I’ll be happy to edit them because I literally just reread it once before posting. Hope you enjoyed reading!


	10. Chapter 10

Getting used to the new normal of his life was fairly easy. The past month and a half had been the happiest and most nerve-wracking time in Lance’s whole life so far. At home, he’d be his parent’s good son, who had decent grades and played the piano but when he was with Keith, he was an entirely different person - bolder and more free.

He noticed how Keith inspired some courage in him. It was a slow progression at first but once Lance noticed it a week ago when he went to visit Shiro with him when he came back home from the hospital, it went on faster. For the first time in his life, he didn’t worry about embarrassing himself nor did he feel like he wasn’t worth Shiro’s time.

Even when their entire relationship was secret, save for a few special people, the romance was still there and Lance was a sucker for it. They would hold hands under the table and steal kisses when no one was looking. It made his heart flutter.

He learned from Shiro - yes, they talked to each other every now and then - that it would be Keith’s birthday soon. Lance had a hunch that Keith did not want him to know that it was his birthday because he did not want him to fuss about it. But what kind of boyfriend would he be if he didn’t throw him a really awesome party?

Lance organized everything from lunch to all the fun they would be having after. He even invited Shiro and Adam but because of Shiro’s health, they couldn’t come. It still wasn’t clear to Lance what Shiro’s illness was but he didn’t want to pry.

Because Keith didn’t seem to have any friends aside from his foster brother and his dog, Lance invited Pidge, Hunk, and Allura. At first, Lance was hesitant on the idea of inviting his former crush to his boyfriend’s birthday celebration but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that Keith got along well with Allura, as weird as it sounded. Besides, Lance was completely over her at that point. He realized that all this time, Allura treated him like a close friend and not as someone special. He really needed to thank Hunk and Pidge for breaking his guitar and Keith for creeping him out. If it weren’t for them, he would have sung her that lame song and it would have been totally awkward.

Now, him and Keith were in the car. He was driving and Keith had that annoyed look on his face that he still found cute.

“Where the hell are we going Lance?” he asked. “You know how I hate surprise.”

“Aw babe! You’re no fun.”

“You’re calling me babe now?” Keith asked him, amused. “I thought you’d be the baby in this relationship. I’d make a nice daddy.”

Lance’s face went red. “Could you not with the innuendos?”

Keith chuckled and then pressed a kiss on his cheek. “Live with it.”

Once Lance parked the car, Keith went back to his bad mood earlier, probably realizing what was happening. With the restaurant in front of them and their three friends visible from the window, Lance’s intentions were quite obvious.

“Surprise! Happy birthday, Keith,” Lance said.

“I said I hate surprises. Take me home.”

“Come on Keith,” Lance said, taking his hand. “I really just want to celebrate your birthday with you and make it memorable.”

“Then we could have celebrated it together back in my house,” Keith snapped at him before letting out a defeated sigh. “Fine, let’s just get this over with.”

Lance smiled. “I swear, you won’t regret it.”

“I better not.”

They went inside, holding hands and looking like a real couple for the first time. The others greeted Keith a happy birthday to which he replied with an unenthusiastic grunt. The waiter went over and gave them their menus.

“Hmmm… what should we eat?” Allura asked.

“I don’t know,” Lance said. “Keith, what do you want to get?”

“Your head on a platter,” he grumbled.

Lance ignored him. “Pizza. We’ll have pizza and chicken wings.”

The waiter hastily went back to the kitchen, tripping on his feet as he backed away from Keith. Lance let out a sigh. This was not happening according to his plan.

“Maybe presents first?” Allura suggested to get rid of the awkward atmosphere.

“Oh oh! Pick mine, Keith,” Hunk said, handing him a box tied with a red bow. “It should have been eaten like fifteen minutes ago.”

Keith raised a brow and took the gift. He pulled the bow off and looked at the contents. “A cake that says, happy birthday… Keef.”

“Are you mad? Lance said that’s how you spelled your name,” Hunk said.

Lance turned away from his boyfriend’s angry glare, whistling. “Don’t look at me. Maybe Hunk was talking to a different Lance?”

“Yeah, of course. A different Lance with a boyfriend named Keef,” Keith deadpanned.

“Let’s move on. Pidge? How about your gift?” Lance asked, gesturing to his friend.

Pidge handed Keith a small pouch. “I hope you like it,” she said simply.

“This is my phone charger,” Keith said. “It went missing a few days ago.”

“Yes. I tweaked it so it could safely charge your phone ten times faster. Plus, I got you free Wifi in your house. Don’t ask how I did it.”

“Thanks. That’s actually useful.”

Next was Allura’s gift. She had a huge smile on her face as she watched Keith unbox it. He took out two simple button-down shirts in pastel pink and blue. Light colors weren’t Keith’s style but Lance bet he’d look hot.

“I think they’ll fit you perfectly,” Allura said.

Keith just frowned at them, hating the colors. Lance nudged his side to stop him from being rude. “Thanks. I’ll wear them… somewhere.” He turned to his boyfriend. “What did you get me?”

The dead look in Keith’s eyes told him that he wasn’t having much fun but Lance knew when he receives his present, he’ll get him to smile.

“Close your eyes,” Lance said.

“What? No,” Keith said, glancing at Pidge when Lance handed her his phone. “Are you filming this?”

“Lance wanted to get your reaction on video,” Pidge explained.

Keith shook his head. “What the hell is this supposed to be Lance? I’ve told you numerous times today that I hate surprises.”

“Last surprise and I promise I won’t ever throw you a party ever again!” Lance said.

He let out a sigh and then closed his eyes. Lance was probably even more excited than anyone else. He had spend days trying to find his present, knowing that it will be worth it. The box was light in his hand and he opened it in front of Keith.

“Open your eyes!”

The moment that Keith’s frown was wiped off his face was so priceless. “L-Lance, this is…”

“Yep,” he confirmed, a smug grin on his face. “It is.”

“A Game Boy!” Keith exclaimed, his eyes positively sparkling with wonder. He looked up at Lance and then gave him a kiss. “Thanks.”

“Actually, it’s a Game Boy Advance SP with Pokemon Ruby,” Lance said, his face as red as the cartridge. He shouldn’t even be embarrassed because by that point, him and Keith have shared hundreds of kisses.

“I’ve always wanted one as a kid.”

The distinct sound of a Game Boy turning on was nostalgic. Lance was outraged when he learned that Keith had never played it before. He only saw other kids playing and no ever shared with him. That’s why he decided that it would be the perfect gift for Christmas but when he learned about his birthday, he hastened to find it.

As they waited for the food, Keith played happily. Pidge and Hunk were convincing him to get a Mudkip but much to their dismay, Keith chose Torchic. It wasn’t really a weird choice because he always imagined him with a fire-type. Lance thought he just had to let his boyfriend make his own pokemon decisions.

“Can’t I change the hair? It looks like a fucking onion,” Keith said.

“No, you can only change his name,” Hunk said.

Keith stopped. “I could?”

“That’s literally the first thing you do!” Lance said

“Pizza’s here,” Allura told her distracted friends.

Keith hesitantly put his game down and they all dug in. It was a cheap restaurant but the sizes were huge and the food was decent. Overall, they were satisfied with their lunch. 

The next stop for Keith’s birthday bash was the carnival. Lance thought that it would be fun to separate from his friends for a little bit to stroll through the bustling field. With his hood up and sunglasses on, he was practically unrecognizable. Under the thin veil of anonymity, him and Keith went from stall to stall, eating food and just having fun.

“That’s one huge teddy bear,” Lance said, pointing to a giant purple bear that was hanging in one of the game stalls. It seemed to be a game where the star on a paper target must be shot out with a toy gun.

“It’s too easy. I’ll get it for you.”

Lance pulled him back. “Wait a second. It’s your birthday so I should be winning stuff for you.”

He let out a chuckle. “No offense Lance but I don’t think you would be good at shooting games.”

“Oh yeah? I happen to be known as the ninja sharpshooter back when I played laser tag with my siblings.”

“Who called you that? Your mom?”

Lance made a noise of indignation while Keith worked on suppressing his laughter. “I’m awesome with these kind of games!” he snapped defensively, folding his arms and pouting. “How about we have a little contest Kogane?”

“Oh you’re on Martinez,” Keith said sharply.

They went up to the stall and picked up their weapons. As Lance expected, it felt broken and dirty in his hands, making it harder for anyone to win.

“I’m getting you that teddy bear!” Keith yelled as he aimed and started shooting.

“Not if I get it for you first!”

Lance attempted to shoot out the star but the gun was terribly inaccurate, resulting in him only getting the sides of the paper. He grew even more frustrated when he saw how well Keith was doing. Soon, Keith was done with the game, receiving the fuzzy prize.

Lance grunted. “No way! This game’s rigged!” He placed the gun down angrily.

“Here’s your teddy bear Lance,” Keith said, his smug expression irritating Lance. 

“I don’t want it.”

“Just take it.” Keith shoved the huge bear towards him.

He got a face full of fuzz. The longing for the bear earlier was now gone, replaced with the need to get rid of it as soon as possible. It was too heavy and it didn’t even fit his room. Besides, he wanted to win it for Keith, not the other way around.

“Do I have to walk around with this all day?” Lance complained miserably. “It’s too heavy.”

“It’s part of the generic carnival date package,” Keith told him. “Were you not informed?”

“I wanted to get it for you!”

“Stop complaining. Come on, let’s ride the rollercoaster.”

“I don’t think we could get on with this thing.”

They ended up leaving the stuffed bear at the entrance of the ride, hoping that someone would steal it and they didn’t have to be bothered with taking it home. The rollercoaster was terrifying, not because of the speed and the thrill, but because of the creaks that made it seem like the entire thing would fall apart at any minute. When they were done, the bear was still where they left it.

Lance picked it up. “Don’t you want it Keith?”

“No way. I won it for you,” he said, shaking his head.

After walking around for a little bit, they bumped into their group.

“I love that bear,” Allura said. “I tried to win one but all the games are rigged.”

“I know right?” Lance looked down at the bear. He figured since neither him nor Keith wanted it, he could give it to Allura. “Here you go.”

From the corner of his eye, he could feel Keith’s glare weighing down on him. He turned to him and smiled sweetly.

“I took care of our problem,” Lance said. “Is there something wrong?”

Keith shook his head. “Nothing.”

He attempted to wrap his arm around him but Keith just pulled away. He was about to comment on it when a loud boom erupted above them. A wonderful display of colorful fireworks lit the night sky. 

A rough hand slowly slipped into his, making him look down at it and then up at the owner. Keith looked so mesmerized by the lights above them that he almost seemed childlike. The expression on his boyfriend’s face was priceless and so different from his usual scowl.

With a slight squeeze to his hand, he went back to watching the fireworks, feeling very contented and fulfilled. He could say that the birthday celebration was a success but it wasn’t over yet.

* * *

After saying goodbye to everyone else, Lance drove Keith back to his tiny house. They had some music on and Keith was mouthing the words as his fingers drummed on his lap. Lance didn’t know what got into him. He spontaneously burst out singing obnoxiously, getting a weird look from Keith.

“You know you like my voice,” Lance said.

“I like you in general but you’re starting to make me question myself.”

He ignored him and kept singing. The weird look gradually turned into amusement.

“God, Lance. You are such a dork,” Keith said when they stopped in front of his house. He pulled him close and then pressed a kiss to his lips. “It’s still my birthday so I think you should stay.”

“Way ahead of you!” Lance pulled out his bag from the backseat. It had all his stuff, including clothes and skincare.

Keith blinked. “You actually planned this?”

“Just in case you asked…” Lance realized how much of a clingy idiot he acted.

To his surprise, Keith just laughed and then kissed him again. “Come on. Cosmo already misses you a lot.”

They went inside the house. Nothing much has changed since the first time Lance went in there but he felt like there was something different. At first, Lance couldn’t point it out but it came to him when he noticed how the room smelled like Lysol.

“You cleaned?” Lance asked.

He shrugged. “Since you come here often, I figured I should.” 

Lance felt touched. It was a simple thing but Keith did it for him.

Cosmo immediately pounced on him, pinning him down on the daybed as his slimy tongue gave him doggy kisses. Lance laughed at the affection, rubbing the dog’s thick fur. “I missed you too buddy.”

He felt Keith’s weight beside him. Right away, Cosmo turned to his attention to his owner, settling happily on his lap.

“Who’s a good boy?” Keith cooed at him as he gave him belly rubs.

This was a rare side of Keith that no one ever sees. Lance felt so honored that he chose to share this with him.

Neither of them noticed that it was the middle of the night until Cosmo hopped off the bed and tiredly went to his own spot on the floor.

“Thank you for doing this Lance. I had fun today,” Keith said, lying down

Lance lied down as well, propping up on his elbows. “You’re thanking me? When did you become such a gentleman?” he teased.

Keith chuckled lowly, casting him a sideway glance. “So you think I’ve gone soft?”

“Well… I wouldn’t have expected such gratitude from the boy who bullied me into teaching him Spanish.”

Even when he meant it as a joke, Lance’s words elicited a despondent dullness in Keith’s eyes. “I’ve changed a lot since we got together but I’m still me.”

A smile tugged on Lance’s lips. Keith seemed to have no idea that he changed him as well.

Before he knew it, he was boldly pulling his boyfriend into a deep kiss. Keith seemed to be surprised but he soon melted into the kiss, pulling Lance down to lie down with him.

Nothing in his life had ever felt like it. It was so strange how his body yearned for his touch and how Keith seemed to feel the same way.

Slow and gentle was their pace. Keith was very attentive and he knew exactly what Lance needed. He knew how to bring out the daring side of Lance from the nervous shell. The room was quiet, save for their pants and gasps. 

Later that night, they laid in each other’s embrace, gazing with tired eyes. “I love you,” Lance whispered and snuggled into his arms, contently.

It was only as sleep overtook him when he started wondering if Keith had said it back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let's just hope our favorite couple didn't disturb Cosmo since he was sleeping quite peacefully. This was actually my favorite to write. And um...next chapter is a bit um...sad so...Anyway! What was your favorite part?
> 
> You can follow me on tumblr @theresidentartichoke. I mostly reblog random stuff on there.
> 
> Thanks for reading! I'm doing some finishing touches on the final chapter and I hope you all like it.


	11. Chapter 11

The first rays of sunlight streamed inside the small space, across the tangle of sheets and exposed skin on the bed. The brightness woke up Lance when it started to shine on his face. With a groan, he drowsily attempted to sit up, only being stopped by a heavy arm around his chest. He squinted at the body beside him and then at his surroundings.

This wasn’t his bedroom. This was Keith’s house. He was naked in Keith’s house.

Before the panic settled, last night’s events came flashing through his eyes. He remembered how amazing he felt as Keith touched him in the right places. He remembered how he made Keith moan as they kissed. His face felt hot as self-consciousness overtook him instead. Did he satisfy him? Was he good enough?

Beside him, Keith let out a groan, his face scrunching up and his hand searching for Lance’s. Once he got what he wanted, he dropped his head back into the pillow they shared peacefully. Smiling, Lance pushed the sweaty strands of hair out of his boyfriend’s face. In a second, his doubts flew away. For Keith, he was enough.

The sun got even brighter, lighting up the room. There were clothes everywhere. Somehow, his underwear managed to drape itself over a picture frame. He swiftly reached for it and threw it on the floor where his pants were.

Keith shifted from Lance’s movements, slowly opening his eyes, meeting his. “Morning.”

“Morning,” Lance repeated, a wince coming to his lips when he moved back too quickly.

“Sore?” Keith asked, pulling him close.

“Just a little.”

He propped himself up on his elbow. “Maybe I was a little enthusiastic last night?”

“I said I’m fine! Besides, I like it that way,” Lance said, reaching over to give him a good morning kiss. “Plus, I prefer that from your scary face on the night of the dance.”

Keith rolled his eyes at him. “Yes, Lance. Remind me of my previous sexual relation the morning after our first time.”

“My first time in general,” he admitted.

“Pfft. Really now?”

“Yeah. You don’t believe me? Was I really that good?” he asked, with a grin.

He stared at him for a second before chuckling. “That explains it.”

“What do you mean?” Lance asked, only getting a pillow in his face in response. He looked at Keith and he was already getting up. “Wait Keith! What do you mean that explains it? Was I bad?”

“On the contrary, you were quite good but you looked so fucking nervous,” Keith complained. He walked to the kitchen, not bothering with clothes. Since it was his house and he didn’t share it with anyone else, it was most likely usual for him to go around nude. “I thought it was because you were scared of me.”

Now Lance understood why Keith was extra gentle with him. He didn’t want Lance to think of him as Keith the bully. With his heart beating fast from the overwhelming affection, he stood and followed him, gathering his clothes from the ground in the process.

“I’ll make us breakfast,” Lance said.

“Bold of you to assume that I have anything in my fridge. I’ve been living off instant ramen for the past week.”

“Well, I guess your kidneys could handle one more day of instant ramen.” Lance got three packs of the artificial chicken flavored ramen and then a pot to boil some water in. “I should take you grocery shopping. You’ll die early if you keep this up.”

Keith sighed. ”That was the goal,” he mumbled, probably thinking that Lance wouldn’t hear him.

“Don’t you say stuff like that. You have a long, good life ahead of you. We’re going to the Garrison, right?” He placed his hand on his shoulder. “Well, if I got in that is.”

“And you shouldn’t say stuff like that. Lance, you’re not dumb okay? You’re goofy but you’re smart and talented,” Keith said, giving him a sweet peck on his cheek before moving away to give him space to cook. “It’s not everyday when you meet someone who speaks two languages, plays a dozen musical instruments, gets good grades, and actually has a personality.”

Even if Lance still wasn’t sure if he’ll really get in, he had to think positively because Keith was inspiring confidence in him. Somehow, he seemed to drive his insecurities away. “Some day, we’ll both be piloting our own aircrafts and doing the things that Shiro has done and maybe more.”

There was silence between them. Lance assumed it was because of their hunger so he concentrated on cooking. It wasn’t until he placed the two bowls down on the coffee table when Keith spoke up. “Shiro’s retiring.”

Lance dropped his spoon into the bowl, splashing a little bit of the soup on to his hand. He winced as he met Keith’s eyes. “Retiring? What do you mean? He’s too young to do that.” Keith simply moved the noodles around miserably. With a sigh, he placed a hand on top of his. “Keith? Are you okay?”

Keith studied him with a contemplative stare, a despondent frown on his lips. At first, Lance thought his question would be ignored so he started to eat his breakfast.

“Shiro has cancer.”

Lance almost dropped his bowl. His heart hammered in his chest.

Taking in a deep breath, Keith took Lance’s hand, squeezing it tight. He noted how cold it was. “For him to get better, his whole right arm has to be amputated,” he said, his voice low and quiet. “That’s why he can’t work anymore.”

“Oh Keith.” Lance didn’t know what to say. All he could do was wrap a blanket around both of them and pull him close in a comforting embrace. The news saddened him. He couldn’t believe that Shiro was suffering from a deadly illness and that he had to retire because of it.

A lump formed in Lance’s throat when he saw how his boyfriend’s face was gray with terrible sadness. His purple eyes had already lost the gleam in them from the moment he woke up.

“I don’t think I’ll be going to the Garrison, Lance,” he said.

Lance paused, feeling like he had not heard him right. “Not going? But why? This is what we’ve been dreaming of Keith. This is what Shiro wants for you.”

Keith let out a sigh. “No one’s going to take care of Shiro.”

“But Adam surely will. He’s his fiancé.”

There was a visible pain going through his face. “Adam can’t. He’s… he still has to work.”

“Shiro could get a nurse-”

“I don’t want that for that for him,” he said, his voice was so weary that it hurt Lance.

Instead of causing his more distress by prying some more, Lance hugged him so tightly that he could feel his heart beat against his chest. He then pressed a kiss on his lips, hoping that it could somehow heal him.

“Everything will be okay.” Of course, Lance didn’t know that but someone had to be optimistic between them. “Shiro will get the care that he needs. Besides, that’s still months away right?”

Keith nodded slowly, leaning into his embrace.

“I love you…” Lance said once more.

And once more, there was no reply.

* * *

More weeks passed and Keith was doing the thing Lance hated the most - ignoring him. While they still saw each other almost everyday because of school, Lance noticed how Keith always cancelled their dates.

First he cancelled their movie date. Initially, Lance assumed that it was because he did not want to watch a romance film. The next time, he called him the night before their ice skating date, telling him he couldn’t make it. This latest one was the most upsetting. Lance got them reservations to a new buffet restaurant that served Cuban food. He was already outside with an umbrella over his head, waiting in the rain for his boyfriend to come. His phone started ringing, making him smile.

“Hey Keith! Where are you? The restaurant will be opening at any minute,” Lance said excitedly.

Keith let out a sigh. “I’m sorry babe,” he said, causing Lance’s smile to fade away. “I can’t go.”

The worst thing was, all the times he cancelled, he only had one reason, one excuse that Lance couldn’t fault him for.

“I have to take care of-”

“Shiro,” Lance finished. “Yeah. I get it.”

“I’m really sorry. I’ll make it up to you on Monday,” Keith said.

“You don’t have to. It’s okay, really,” Lance said. He started walking back to his car, the rain pelting down harder. “I love-”

Before he could finish his sentence, Keith ended the call.

That was the other thing. Keith never said I love you back. Usually, he replied with a ‘yeah’ or a polite smile but this was becoming a regular occurance - Keith escaping before he said it.

Lance got inside his car. He was cold from being out in the rain for the past thirty minutes but he didn’t move. Frustration was starting to boil inside of him and no matter how many times he tried to convince himself that he wasn’t bothered by it, he felt miserable and very hurt.

He looked down at the text he got from Keith yesterday. They were both excited to try all the food. Now, as he sat in his car as rain poured down, he began to think maybe the excitement was one-sided.

“Fuck you Keith,” Lance said, typing on his phone with no intention to send it. A flash of lightning, followed by a rumbling of thunder startled him, causing him to lose grip of his phone. It fell under his seat so Lance had to fumble around for it. When he looked at his phone again, the message was sent. “Oh shit! No, no, no!”

Not a second later, his phone started ringing. For someone who was busy, Keith seemed to have a lot of time to talk to him. Lance didn’t want to answer but he still wanted to try to explain. “What the hell was that?” came Keith’s angered tone.

Lance frowned. “It was an accident. I swear.”

“What? You’re texting someone else named Keith?” he demanded. “Don’t treat me like an idiot, Lance. What the hell is your problem?”

“Hold up. Shouldn’t I be the one who’s angry? You told me you’ll come but you didn’t because you just have to be with Shiro again.” By that point, Lance was fuming. Wasn’t he the one being treated like an idiot? He was always the one who was making ways for them. He was always the one who adjusted to their unfair situation. “In case you didn’t know, I’m your boyfriend and not him!”

All of Lance’s deep feelings finally poured out. Lance’s hand flew to his mouth to stop himself from saying more. He feared that he’ll make the damage bigger.

There was pause on both ends until Keith spoke. “Let’s talk in person. Stay right there.” With that, he hanged up.

Lance stayed very still. He didn’t know what else to do. He was angry at how his and Keith’s relationship was progressing. The worst part was how he loved him so much but he didn’t seem to return his feelings.

He didn’t know how long he sat there. Maybe ten or twenty minutes. It was only when he heard the familiar roar of a motorcycle that he looked up. Keith went up to him, soaked in the rain. He opened the door and took a seat in the passenger’s side.

“Could you tell me what’s wrong?”

“You’re what’s wrong,” It was a petty reply but Lance could care less.

“I’m here now, right? Let’s go to that buffet so you could stop with the pouting.”

Lance sighed. “Okay. I’m sorry Keith. I guess I was just hungry.”

They kissed and for a moment, Lance forgot all the problems that they were facing. He felt guilty for being mad in the first place. He was convinced that Keith was trying his best to make them work.

“You should change your clothes. I have extra here,” Lance said, tossing him a shirt.

“I’ll go change in the restaurant.”

“Change here so I could watch you,” he said with a grin.

Keith let out a chuckle, shaking his head. They went out of the car, Lance holding the umbrella over their heads.

“Watch me? Is your type pale and skinny?”

He thought about it. “I don’t really have a type. I just like you a lot,” he said. “I mean, I didn’t even know I was bi until recently.”

Keith stopped walking. “How recently?”

“Somewhere between walking in on you and Rolo in the music room and you kissing me,” he joked.

“Tell me you’re kidding,” Keith said, staring at him with wide eyes, humourless eyes.

“Well,” Lance said, wondering why Keith was acting that way. “I did notice that I’m attracted to some guys but it wasn’t really a concrete thing until-”

Keith held a hand up to stop him. “You’re telling me that you saw me and then thought you needed to date me to find out if you’re actually gay?”

“I didn’t say th-”

“That is exactly what you’re saying!” Keith shouted.

Suddenly, he spun around to the opposite direction and started marching away. As Lance went to grab his hand, he lost hold of his umbrella, letting it fall on the ground. “Where are you going? I don’t see what the problem is.”

“This entire relationship is just your sexual confusion talking. Fuck, I can’t believe I didn’t see this from the beginning! I’m not going to be someone’s experiment again.”

Lance’s brows furrowed as he tried to listen, feeling very confused with everything that was happening. Honestly, he felt like he was playing a real life version of hangman - he would say the wrong thing and it would kill someone.

“Your parents know you’re straight. That should have been a huge giveaway but of course I thought you were just scared to come out to them,” Keith said, almost talking to himself and arranging his tangled thoughts. “Hell, you even flirted with Allura on my birthday.”

“I would never do that while I’m dating you,” Lance said, trying to stop the argument but truthfully, he was getting on his nerves with all these farfetched accusations. “I’ve told you so many times that I love you. You have to believe me.”

Keith shook his head, pulling away violently. “Go live in your straight world. I can’t be with you.”

There was something inside of Lance that just snapped. A shiver, unrelated to the cold he was experiencing from the rain, ran up his spine and made him lose his temper.

Lance narrowed his eyes at him. “Well, I can’t be with you when you’re in love with someone who’s getting married!”

The panicked look in his eyes confirmed his suspicions. He wanted to ask him what was his plan. Did he just want to keep Lance until Shiro realized that he loved him and not Adam? Was he planning to make Shiro cheat? Lance would have been more vicious if it weren’t so painful to watch him suffer.

“It’s not what you think it is…” Keith spoke finally.

“Then what is it?”

“Shiro… He’s always been there for me. He has never disappointed me before.”

“And have I?”

“No, Lance,” he said, taking a step forward. “Never.”

“Then what does he have that I don’t? Why do you keep choosing him instead of me over and over again?” Lance demanded. The answers to his his questions were very obvious. Shiro was better than him in every way. He sighed at Keith’s silence. “How long have you loved him?”

“Longer than Adam has…”

The confirmation stung even when he was expecting it. He never had a chance.

“The thing is, I’m used to not being the best. In my family, I’m the youngest and the dumbest. Plus my parents don’t want a bisexual son. With my friends, I’m the idiot of the group.” Lance wiped the water out of his face. Now he was thankful for the rain because Keith wouldn’t be able to see his tears. “But I didn’t feel that way with you… until recently that is. Now that all of this is out, I just realized… that I wasn’t even the best to you in the beginning.”

Keith shook his head. “Stop messing around. This isn’t about me and Shiro. It’s about you jerking me around and now you’re trying to guilt trip me.”

“You think I like this? You’re not exactly a ray of sunshine Keith but I don’t like hurting you.” He paused, clenching his hands into tight fists. “All I want from you is one sign. One little sign that tells me that you return my feelings or if there’s a possibility that you could at least.”

Lightning struck behind them, illuminating Keith’s features. At that moment, it was still and emotionless. Lance got his answer. Now he knew why storms were named after people. 

“Right…” Lance said, walking back and tripping over the umbrella. He picked it up and threw it at him. “Take it. You need it more.”

“Lance-“

It had only occurred to him at that moment that he had been reduced to a lovesick fool who had become so vulnerable to his first real love. Even as his heart urged him to turn back around, he forced himself to keep going until he reached his car.

_ Don’t turn back,  _ he said in his mind and it was the best advice he could ever give himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the sad chapter. I hated making them go through that, I swear. Um... I’ll just go hide before people come at me with pitchforks I guess?
> 
> Anyway! Please comment if you noticed some missing words, grammatical errors, or things that don’t make sense. Comment too if you have a favorite line or you just liked this chapter in general :)


	12. Chapter 12

“Where’s your boyfriend?” Hunk asked as he sat down.

Lance dreaded the conversation but he took a deep breath in and said, “Not my boyfriend anymore. He’s a shithead.”

“You broke up?” Pidge asked, actually pushing her laptop away. “Do you want to talk about it, Lance?”

“Nope. I’m fine,” he managed to lie. “We realized that we’re not compatible. Besides, it’s good that it’s back to just us now. He doesn’t belong with us.”

“Keith’s fun when he needs to be though,” Hunk said with a shrug. “If you want to talk about it, you can always come to us. We can fix technology so I’m sure we can help fix your broken heart.”

“Thanks, but my heart is not broken.”

They all started eating as they normally would. Lance wasn’t hungry so he just pushed his food around with his fork. Normally, when his mother would pack him lunch, he’d gobble it down as if he hadn’t eaten in years. Now, as he remembered how he used to share his food with Keith, how he’d eat all the parts that Lance didn’t like since he wasn’t a picky eater, eating didn’t seem appealing.

The first one who realized that Lance wasn’t acting like himself was Allura. She placed a hand on Lance’s shoulder and then said, “There’s a new Korean beauty store at the mall. Want to go get sheet masks with me?”

Lance figured that the bags under his eyes did need a little care. “Sure. Why not?”

That’s how he and Allura ended up getting twenty packs each. Lance wasn’t the type to binge buy everything on sale when he was upset but in his defense, he did need all of them to get the glow back in his skin.

“Come on Lance,” Allura said, pulling him back to the parking lot. “I have a date later so let’s put these on now.”

“Using sheet masks in a car?” Lance asked, raising a brow at her. “That’s kind of weird but yeah, let’s do it.”

They both went inside and Lance put on some music that they could relax to. Lately, Lance hated being inside his car. Blue held too many memories of Keith that he’d rather forget. When he would look at the backseat, he could almost feel Keith’s lips on him as they made out there. There was a ketchup stain that didn’t want to come out on the passenger seat from when him and Keith threw fries at each other.

“Lance?” Allura said, knocking him out of his reverie. “You are obviously not alright. Do you want to talk about-”

“If you say his name I’m not going to do sheet masks with you,” he warned.

She raised her hands in defeat and proceeded to put on the sheet mask. She chose a green tea one for both of them. Once Lance felt the cooling sensation of the product seeping into his pores, he relaxed against his seat.

“So about Keith…”

Lance sat back up. “Allura, could you not?” he exclaimed. He then sighed to calm himself down. “I’m sorry. I’m just… I’m trying my best to forget all about him and move on.”

“But you just keeping all of this in is unhealthy,” Allura said, looking at him with concern. “I figured, since neither Pidge nor Hunk know anything about break ups, that I should be the one to talk to you.”

“Look Allura, I appreciate you trying to give me comfort but you have no idea how this feel.” He looked outside the window.

“Then just tell me what it feels like. I promise that it will help you feel so much better.”

Lance thought about it for a moment, his bitter gaze on a happy couple with their excited kid as they went inside the mall. “Imagine, losing the only person that could understand you and what you’re going through…”

Keith knew all his struggles and insecurities. There was just a bond between them that made them so vulnerable to each other. It was only him that knew what it felt like to suppress part of who he was around people. He helped him get through all the problems he had with his parents.

Him and Allura sat in silence, gazing on the roof of the car. He was so close to relaxing. He could already feel the mask nourishing his tired skin. That was until Allura broke the silence and blew Lance’s mind. “My first relationship was with a girl, believe it or not.”

“Wait? What? You’re bisexual?” He sat up quickly, the sheet mask falling down to his neck.

She nodded. “Yes, I am.”

“Wow… does your father know?”

“He does and he’s pretty open-minded with stuff like this so I don’t fully understand what you’re going through,” she said. “It’s Romelle’s family that had problems but that wasn’t the reason why we broke up.”

“Well, why did you break up?”

She shrugged. “I guess we didn’t really work out as a couple. It got a bit boring. We’re still friends though.” A gentle hand was on his shoulder. “But I know how hiding your relationship feels like. How you want to make everyone who talks horribly about you to shut up.”

The softness of Allura’s voice calmed him down a little. There was still an internal debate going on in his head whether or not he could fully trust her with his problem. After all, he didn’t want to burden anyone.

Lance took a deep breath. “Keith’s in love with someone else,” he confessed, leaving out the part about Shiro. “It’s holding him back. We had a fight but he turned it around to me and accused me of just playing with him. That I’m a straight guy who just wants to fuck the gay dude.”

“What makes him think that?”

“Heck, I don’t know. Even up until now, I don’t know how Keith’s brain works.” He played with the loose thread on his shirt like it was something interesting. “He hates how my homophobic parents think I’m straight and he thinks I’m flirting with you.”

“Me? Why would he think I’m his competition?”

“I did have a crush on you,” he said, taking the mask off his face and shoving it back in the packaging.

“You did?” she asked, tilting her head to one side.

Lance blinked. “You didn’t even know? I took you to the dance!”

“I thought it was platonic!”

“How can that be platonic?” Lance questioned. Did that mean that something was wrong with Lance’s flirting methods? Was he too friendly? Or was it because he was just plain ugly? “What about the dates that we went on?”

“Honestly, Lance I didn’t know that those were dates.”

With a groan, he rest his head on the steering wheel. All this time Allura thought he was just a really nice friend. He didn’t know what to do with that information.

“How about we put that aside and focus on your current problem?” she suggested.

“Which one? Keith, me not knowing how to come out to my parents, or you thinking I was just an extra nice friend?”

She rolled her eyes, getting annoyed. “The first two of course. The last one is not a current problem unless you still want to date me. I would say no, by the way.”

“I guess you’re right.” All of Lance’s feelings for Allura vanished when he started falling in love for Keith. In the past, Allura was like an unachievable goal that Lance wanted so much but as time went by and he grew up a little bit, he decided that people weren’t achievements. The thought of still pursuing her caused a sickening shudder to go through his body. It wasn’t that Allura was not as attractive as before. She was just not his type anymore. The fact that they were close friends now didn’t do anything to stop the nauseating feeling either.

Now, even as his heart was shattered into a million tiny pieces, he still yearned for Keith.

“I love him,” Lance admitted. “I love him because he made me accept myself.”

“You don’t need him to do that. Where’s the cocky Lance that we all know and love?”

_ He never existed. _

“Accepting yourself doesn’t start with other people. It starts with you and the people you are closest to,” she said, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze. “And that includes your family.”

“What if my parents kick me out of the house?” he asked. That was the worst case scenario and the probability of that happening was very low but it was still something that he feared.

“You don’t have to start with them. Maybe your sister Veronica first?”

He had a lightbulb moment at Allura’s words. Of course, Veronica would accept him no matter what. “You are a genius!” He pulled her into a tight hug. “Thank you so much.”

She chuckled and rubbed his back. “Now that you’re feeling better. I should go. I have a date with Lotor,” she said as she gathered her things.

“Oh yeah. Have fun with-” He paused, thinking about what she just said. “Wait. Lotor?!”

She nodded with a bright smile. “I’ll see you later, Lance.”

Unbelieving, Lance simply stared at her. It wasn’t that Lance didn’t see Allura with someone like Lotor. He could definitely see both of them in some shampoo commercial where they toss their long, gorgeous, white hair around. He was just a bit surprised because he didn’t seem to be her type. Then again, what did he know about types? His went from sweet girl to bad boy.

Not even twenty seconds later, Lotor met Allura at the mall entrance and handed her flowers. Well, it did look like she was happy. That’s the important thing anyway.

Once the shock of Allura going on a date with Lotor wore off, he took a deep breath and called his sister.

“What do you want now Lance?” came Veronica’s annoyed voice.

He did not know how to start this. “Hey um… how are you doing?”

“I’m fine,” she said. “Is there something wrong? You sound nervous.”

“I have something to tell you but I don’t want you to see me in a different way…” His lungs seemed to tighten and his heart was beating out of his chest. “I’m bisexual.”

There was silence on Veronica’s end. He could almost see the grossed out expression on her face but just as tears were about to fall from his eyes, he heard laughter. “I thought you killed someone and wanted help to hide the body! Is that all?”

Lance was stunned. “You’re okay with it?”

“Why would I not be okay? Lance, this doesn’t change anything. You’re still my annoying baby brother. Go date who you want to date.”

Relief of acceptance and his sister’s unconditional love and support drowned him in happiness. Hiding a part of who he was to his family was the biggest burden he ever had but now that he had Veronica to accept him wholeheartedly, he felt a surge of courage go through him.

“I want to come out to Mamá and Papá,” he said. “Would you… come home for that?”

“Yes, I will.”

* * *

Cooking dinner was Veronica’s idea and not his. He initially agreed because he thought his sister would be there to help him. Lance was panicked mess as he fried the chicken, jumping every time the oil would splatter and hit his hand.

“Of all the days she could be late,” Lance grumbled as he tasted the rice. It seemed to be missing something but he could not for the life of him figure out what it was.

The front door opened and in came Veronica with several bags in her arms. “I’m sorry. I know I said I’d be here to help you cook.”

“Whatever. Now taste the rice and tell me if there’s something missing or if my taste buds are just whack,” he said.

Veronica had a spoonful and then chewed it carefully. “Cilantro.”

“Damn that cilantro.” He immediately threw it in and gave it one final mix. There was sweat going down his back and his hands shook. “I’m not missing anything else right? There’s chicken and there’s rice and the table is set and-”

“Lance, would you please calm down?” she said, having him sit. “Let me handle everything else. Go wash your face. You look disgusting.”

Normally, being referred to as disgusting would have offended him but Lance had bigger problems to worry about. He nodded and then went to the bathroom. Once he locked the door, he stared at himself at the mirror. He looked like he needed another brightening sheet mask because his skin was all pale and dull from the stress.

“You can do this Lance,” he whispered to himself. “No more secrets. They’re your parents. They can’t hate you for wanting to date guys.”

He splashed water on his face and then squirted out a little bit of his facial wash on his fingers before massaging it on to his face. Usually, the soothing scent of lavender would calm him down after a long day but it did nothing to assuage his fears.

Flashes of his parents’ angry faces had been haunting him for a while. As he rinsed his face, the terrors would could back causing his pulse to quicken. His eyes flew open, only getting a bit of soap inside his right one in the process.

“Those are not real. Don’t let your imagination run wild,” he tried to convince himself but ultimately failing.

A knock on the door caused him to jump.

“Lance?” came his mother’s sweet voice. “Are you in there? I thought you were cooking.”

“Um… dinner’s ready. I’ll be there in a second.”

Lance waited for the footsteps to die down before giving himself one more look in the mirror and forcing himself to walk.

“This smells like your cooking,” Lance heard his father tell his mother.

“I’ve taught Lance well,” Flora said.

“Our son can learn anything,” Diego replied, causing a lump to form in Lance’s throat.

They seemed so proud of him now. It made him want to call off the entire thing and let their hearts remain unbroken.

“So, why are you just standing there?” Veronica asked from behind him.

He jumped. “I’m nervous enough! Don’t scare me like that,” he hissed back.

“Nothing bad is going to happen,” she assured him. “Plus, on the unlikely chance that Mamá and Papá will kick you out of the house, you can come live with me… as part of the Galaxy Garrison.” She said the last part with grin.

Lance’s mouth hung open. “W-what do you mean? That I-I…?”

“Congratulations baby brother,” she said before pulling him into a tight hug which he returned almost immediately. “The results haven’t been officially released for everyone so you should stay hush about it.”

“Oh my God!” Lance exclaimed, jumping up and down in excitement. “I can’t believe this!”

This was the highlight of Lance’s life so far. His previous fears forgotten momentarily until their mother poked her head into the room.

“What are we celebrating here?”

“Lance got in!” Veronica announced.

“I knew something special is happening. Lance rarely cooks,” their father added from the dinner table.

Veronica gave him a reassuring smile and then pushed him to the dining room. The table set up looked absolutely gorgeous. There was a vase of all the flowers that his mother loved serving as a centerpiece beside a chocolate cake that Veronica probably bought. His shoddy cooking was plated beautifully, making it not look half bad.

“Before we start eating, we should pray for the food we are about to receive,” Flora said.

This was a normal occurrence in their household. Before every meal, they would take two minutes to pray silently. When he was a kid, he would often get a whooping for not behaving himself during the prayer. Little Lance was bent on either praying too loudly or not praying at all. 

Adult Lance however, was praying so hard for his parents’ acceptance. It was nice to believe in a higher being. He would always have someone to rely on when times got rough.

Summoning all the courage he gained through his prayers, he took a deep breath and then placed a hand on top of his mother’s. “Mamá, Papá the reason why I cooked dinner isn’t because I got in the Garrison,” he said, looking at Veronica who just urged him to go on. “I have something to tell you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the response in the previous chapter! I didn’t think I’d get that much.
> 
> For this chapter, I’ve always imagined Lance’s family speaking in Spanish but I just wrote the whole thing in English. I don’t speak Spanish so I didn’t want to butcher it by using google translate. Filipino does have tons of similar words but the grammar is totally different.
> 
> Let’s hope everything goes well for Lance. I hate hurting him honestly. Please comment what you think will happen in the next chapter!


	13. Chapter 13

No words came out of his mouth as his parents’ stares made him feel like the walls around him were closing in. Blood rushed to his face, making him sweat even more from the heat. The beating of his heart echoed in his ears, causing the silent room to seem not so silent anymore. Fear was overwhelming him and no matter how much he tried to convince himself to just do it, his throat would dry up.

“What is it?” his father asked him, his brows furrowed. “You’re acting a bit strange.”

“I am strange…” was his first reply but that wasn’t what he wanted to say.

The concerned looks on his parents’ faces told him that they were trying to discern what could be going on in their son’s head. That alone made Lance want to go back to his room and lock everyone out but it felt like there was something chaining him to the floor.

“Lance, it’s okay,” Veronica said, smiling at him. “You can do this.”

That breathed a tiny bit of courage into him. He looked at his parents once more and took a deep breath. “I’m bisexual,” he whispered.

His mistake was assuming that his parents, who were in their fifties, knew what being bisexual meant. On top of their previous concerned looks was utter confusion.

“You’re what, sweetheart?” Flora asked, moving closer as if she wanted to hear clearer.

“Bisexual,” he repeated, wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans. It did not get easier the second time around. “It means I want to date men and women.”

“Date… a man?” Diego repeated.

“And there’s nothing wrong with that Papá,” Veronica said.

“How can you say there’s nothing wrong with that?” their father questioned, his tone getting angrier. “That’s not natural.”

Lance winced at that. He knew this would happen.

“Teenagers your age are just discovering yourselves so this must be a phase,” Flora added. “And you like that nice girl, Allura.”

“Not anymore Mamá. I-I was with Keith,” Lance said. “We dated.”

“ _ Santa Maria  _ Lance!” Diego yelled. “I knew that kid is a bad influence on you.”

“Keith is a good friend to Lance, Diego,” Flora argued. “Our son is just confused.”

Soon they were arguing back and forth about him. This was the last thing that Lance wanted - his parents fighting because of something he had no control over. He tried to listen to what they had to say but all the plans they had for him - find a religious woman to marry, have children with her - made his skin crawl. Would he really give up a huge part of who he was just to please his parents? His life would be so much easier.

Then the topic of his future profession came up. From what he heard from the conversation, they seem to link Lance’s apparent sexual confusion with the Garrison, as if exploring the cosmos was something so sacrilegious.

“Perhaps it would better if he did work in the family farm instead?” Diego suggested.

“You can’t be serious about this Papá!” Veronica yelled. “This is a huge opportunity-”

“Don’t yell at your father!” Flora snapped at her, pointing at her daughter.

That’s when Lance lost it.

“I know who I am!” Lance exclaimed over the argument. All of their eyes were on him now. He was livid. No one can dictate how he lived his life, not even his own parents. “There’s nothing you can do to change that. I’m bi and there’s nothing wrong with that. If I’m a sinner, then so be it. God loves sinners anyway.”

Despite the fact that his entire body was uncontrollably shaking, he kept on talking. Standing up for himself felt nice but it was incredibly draining.

“I just… I want you, my parents, to accept me wholeheartedly. D-don’t throw me out like I’m garbage because I am trying to be the best that I can be.” He angrily wiped his tears away. He didn’t want to look weak but he couldn’t help it. “Veronica, let’s just go.”

He stood and grabbed a small bag that he packed earlier in case that this would happen.

Veronica shook her head. “Is this really what you want? To push Lance away just because you don’t accept him?”

Nothing in the world could ever break Lance’s heart more than their silence. He just sighed and then went out, not even looking back.

* * *

Keith looked up at the blue and white house. Adam probably had a bigger role in choosing the house because this was definitely not Shiro’s style. It was way too domestic with all the flowers growing around the yard and the vines climbing up to the second floor window. He knew Shiro preferred something industrial and small.

Inside was even further from what Shiro wanted. The huge space was too bright and open. White seemed to be the main color of the entire house because he has yet to see a single furniture that had a dark tone. Unnecessary things like a fluffy blanket draped over the second couch and fake printed paintings decorated the place, making it look like someone vomited Pinterest over it.

Cosmo, on the other hand, was a traitor. He absolutely loved the place, already getting comfortable in the living room.

“Keith, you’re here already?” Adam said, coming out of the kitchen. “It’s a good thing we got the guest bedroom done last night. Tadashi’s still at the Garrison.”

“He did say that he has more work now than ever,” Keith replied, setting his bag down. “Nice place.” He felt like he was forced to say that to seem polite.

He smiled. “We got a good deal. It’s close enough to the Garrison and to the hospital.”

“I thought he wouldn’t need to go back to the hospital? They already chopped his arm off,” Keith said, urging Cosmo to get up. 

“Well, you know there’s always a chance for the illness to come back.”

Keith stopped in his tracks. He didn’t really think that it was possible. Shiro already lost so much, his arm, his dream job. Why would fate be so cruel and take his life away too?

“Then why did you bother having him get his arm amputated when it won’t even stop it from coming back?” he questioned, not quite angry at Adam but more on the circumstances.

“There’s nothing else we can do. The cancer is already on its later stages so all Tadashi can do is rest and-”

“Rest?” Keith raised his voice. “If you think Shiro wants to spend his whole life being idle then you don’t even know him.”

“I think I know my husband.”

“He’s not your husband!” he snapped at him. He clenched his fists and then looked down on the floor. “Not yet anyway. Besides, I’ve known him for far longer.”

Silence broke out between them. It was far from the comfortable silence he had with Lance. The air was heavy with tension.

Adam let out a sigh. “I don’t want to fight with you Keith so could we please talk?” he asked, taking a seat and expecting him to do the same. When Keith just stood where he was, Adam looked down. “Your feelings for Tadashi. I’ve known for a while.”

“That’s-” Keith knew he was a horrible liar when he’s caught by surprise so he avoided his gaze. “T-there’s nothing to talk about. I’m going to rest. Where’s my room?”

“I’m not mad, you know?” That made him look at Adam. There was nothing but complete sincerity in his voice and his eyes but still, Keith couldn’t possibly trust him. “You can’t help who you have feelings for.”

“Even when I want Shiro to leave you for me?”

“Takashi would do that but not for the reason that you want. If you asked him to leave me, he’d gladly do it because he loves his little brother.”

_ Don’t call me that. _

He hated how Adam isn’t even the tiniest bit intimidated by him. Was he really not a worthy competition for Shiro’s heart?

“Where’s Lance? I haven’t heard from him in a while,” Adam asked, trying to change the subject.

“We broke up because he found out. I think it’s better that way.”

“He must be so devastated.”

Keith frowned at him. “Don’t change the subject. I-”

There was a sound of keys jingling. The door opened and in came Shiro with a small box in his one arm. The sight of him struggling pained Keith.

“Go talk to him,” Adam told him. “It’s okay. Tell him everything that you want to tell him. It would help.”

He eyed him for a moment before approaching Shiro.

“Hey Keith, I’m so glad that you’re here,” he said, giving him that smile that always seemed to melt his heart. “Commander Iverson and the others gave me this telescope. I was thinking we should build it together.”

“T-that sounds great.”

They went to the spacious backyard, Cosmo following closely. The dog found a little bug and started following it happily.

“I don’t understand how anyone could be scared of him,” Shiro said, as he opened the box and pulled out all the materials carefully.

“I don’t either,” Keith said. For someone who was still adjusting to life with one arm, Shiro was greatly independent. He only needed Keith’s help to get the smaller bits out. “Hey Shiro? I have to tell you something. It’s important.”

He stopped everything that he was doing and looked up at him, concerned. “Tell me Keith. Is this about Lance? After what happened with that that James, I get so worried about you.”

James Griffin was his first boyfriend way back in middle school. He pretended to like him to get closer to people at the Garrison while Keith poured his whole heart out to him. When James finally got the favor of everyone there, he outed him to the entire school. Whenever Keith thought about him, it felt like it’s been such a long time ago and he’s grown up significantly. He would never make the same mistake ever again. To be used and lied for someone’s selfish ambition was the worst thing that’s ever happened to him besides the death of his father.

Shiro helped him through it all. He taught him that people could be so cruel and he had to toughen up to face the world. In short, Shiro saved him.

“No, it’s not about him. It’s you…”

“About me?” Shiro let out a laugh. He looked at Keith and stopped at the look on his face. “You’re serious. What is it, Keith? You can tell me anything.”

The man in front of him was his hero. His first real love. How can he possibly put all those feelings into words?

“I-I…” He found himself not being able to say it. It was on the tip of his tongue but he couldn’t force it out. The strange part was the reason was not because of nervousness or fear of being hated.

“Keith?”

Rather, it was because he realized that it wasn’t true at all. He couldn’t say it because he wanted to stop lying to himself. It was all just a messed up routine born from his early crush on him. Shiro was still in his life and he loved him as his big brother. That was an even bigger feeling and it was completely unknown because he never really thought he had a family until today.

Something heavy was lifted off of his chest. He felt so relieved but confused at the same time. The swirl of emotions made him queasy and unsure how to proceed.

“Damn…” was all he could say.

“Um… what?” Shiro asked, looking very confused.

Keith shook his head and turned around. “Adam, you knew!” he called out, running back into the house. “You knew this would happen. I don’t really… I’m not really.”

Shame filled his chest as he faced him. There was something that changed in how he looked at him. He wasn’t someone who was going to take Shiro away from him forever anymore. Adam wasn’t even his rival in the first place. 

He grinned at him. “I’m smarter than you think I am.” Then, his hand was on his shoulder and Keith didn’t shrug it off. “It’s easy to be confused at your age but you’ll always have us to help you through it. We’re family.”

“Family…” he repeated. It was still such a strange concept.

“Now, I think you have a whole other problem besides this,” Adam told him. He gave him a confused look. “I meant your ex.”

“Oh shit Lance…” Keith said, covering his mouth. 

Their fight was so bad that his ex-boyfriend’s sad eyes still haunted him at night. Lance had been telling him that he loved him since their first night together. Even though he initially thought that Lance had to admit that loving him was a pretty stupid decision, it seemed like Keith was the foolish one for letting him go.

He inspired him to never stop fighting. He lifted up his spirits. Likewise, Keith has seen Lance’s confidence, or lack thereof, grow during their short relationship. They made each other better. It was that dynamic that was lost which made him feel so terrible.

“You can still fix it. He’s with Veronica. Something bad happened at home.”

He gulped. “What happened?”

“I don’t really know,” Adam said with a shrug. “Veronica just said that Lance didn’t want to come home.”

Shiro appeared behind them. “What the hell is happening? Keith, what did you want to tell me?”

Keith wasn’t one for hugs but in that moment, he was so overwhelmed with all sorts of emotions that he practically leapt up and pulled Shiro close. This was his family. He belonged with them.

“I’ll explain later. Now, I have to speak with Lance. Can you look after Cosmo?”

“Sure but-”

“I’ll help you build the telescope when I get back!”

With that, he took off running. He hopped on his motorcycle and desperately wished that Lance would talk to him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t think about how Keith motorcycled with Cosmo in tow. I don’t even know how it happened. Maybe he could teleport in this AU too?
> 
> Two more chapters left! Please comment what you thought about this chapter :)


	14. Chapter 14

Veronica’s small apartment at the Garrison reflected what Lance felt inside - messy and gray. He knew it wasn’t usually like this because his big sister was a tidy person. Perhaps she had been too busy to clean up? After all, she had been working on something top secret and then she had to abandon everything to help Lance come out to their parents. Now, he was feeling guilty for asking her to come because first, his parents hate both of them now and second, Veronica was swamped with work.

To ease his guilty feelings, Lance decided to clean up a bit. His sister deserved to take a break. Veronica was at her desk, typing away on her laptop and checking the mountain of books and papers by her side. Lance swept the floor and then put all the clean clothes away, organizing them like how Marie Kondo would.

Being busy wondering whether or not Veronica’s blouses sparked joy or not, took his mind off of most of his problems. She did have a ton of awful clothes.

“You don’t have to do that Lance,” Veronica said, not even looking up from her work. “I promise we’ll go out to eat later once I’m done.”

“Just let me do this.” Lance lifted up a dress that was nicer than the others. “Wait a second. This isn’t yours. This is Rachel’s!”

“So? She steals stuff from me all the time. Plus, she doesn’t need nice dresses at a university. Hoodies and jeans will do,” she replied.

Lance nodded in agreement and then hanged up the dress. He wondered whether Rachel will accept him as Veronica had. Would his two brothers be alright with him being gay or would they shun him like their parents did?

“You should come out to Rachel,” Veronica said, snapping him out of his thought. “And then maybe Marco and Luis at the same time. We’ll all have your back.”

“What if they hate me too?” he asked, the pile of clothes he had yet to KonMari made him more depressed.

“No one hates you Lance. Not even Mamá and Papá. Just give them a moment to let it sink in. Things like this is pretty hard to accept for old people like them. They’ve been taught their whole lives to accept these set of teachings, to worship this one book so when something unfamiliar comes, they feel threatened.”

Lance went quiet for a moment, staring at the shirt in his hands. “I’m not ready to come out to our siblings just yet, especially after what happened yesterday.”

Finally, Veronica looked up at him and smiled. “That’s fine too. Do it at your own time. No need to rush.”

Warming up inside, Lance stood, abandoning all the clothes, and then gave his sister a hug. He was sure now that Veronica was his favorite.

An hour after going back to his work, there was a frantic knock on the door. Maybe the Garrison guards realized that they weren’t supposed to let him in? Lance did not want to be thrown out again.

“Ugh… what could they possibly want now?” Veronica asked as she stood and walked to the door. She looked through the peephole and then stepped back. “Lance? It’s Keith.”

“Keith?” he asked, hopping on the bed and pulling the blankets up to cover himself. “What is he doing here?”

She shrugged. “I think he wants to talk to you.”

There was something about the thought of Keith begging for his forgiveness that tugged at his heart. Even after what happened between them, Lance still loved him. He then realized he shouldn’t be stupid enough to let him hurt him a second time so he had to let go of his fantasies.

“Nope. Nuh-uh,” Lance said, pulling the blanket over his head to hide. “I don’t want to talk to him. Never ever. Tell him he should get lost.”

Veronica opened the door and crossed her arms over her chest. “Lance isn’t here.”

“Um… yeah he is,” Keith said, pointing at him. “He’s over there.”

Damn Keith’s sharp eyes… and his own inability to hide properly.

“Well he doesn’t want to talk to you,” Veronica said, sternly.

“I don’t have time for this,” he said, shaking his head as he pushed past her. “Lance, please. Can I speak to you?”

“What? No!” Lance said, sitting up. “You can’t just break my heart and then decide that you want to talk to me. It doesn’t work that way, Keith.”

“And you can’t just enter someone’s house either,” Veronica added. “I’m calling the guards on you if you don’t get out.”

“I just want to talk to Lance,” he said softly. He locked eyes with him. “Let me try to fix this please.”

That affectionate gaze, that lonely expression, made him feel for a short moment that they were never apart. They were still together in their cozy little bubble where no one judged them. With an exasperated sigh, he gave up and stood, walking towards him.

His brain kept telling him to go back to bed and hide. Talking to Keith again after everything that happened was idiotic. But because Lance was an idiot, he let his affection for him take over.

Veronica grabbed his arm. “Lance, you don’t have to do this. Think first before you decide on anything,” she said sternly.

“It’s fine Veronica,” Lance said, giving her a reassuring smile. “I learned from the best.”

“Call me if something goes wrong,” she said, shooting one more furious glare at Keith.

Lance went outside, expecting Keith to follow him. He didn’t want to risk the security cameras catching their fight on video. That would be something very embarrassing to go viral.

The true obstacle in talking to his ex-boyfriend once more was his still strong feelings for him threatening to triumph over his reasoning but there was no turning back now. They faced each other in the open field, a huge space between them. Maybe they did need to talk, for closure.

“You wouldn’t answer any of my calls,” Keith said sheepishly. “Did you change your number?”

“I blocked you,” he said.

After three unanswered calls from him, Lance decided that he didn’t want to see Keith’s name on his phone anymore. He didn’t want to hear his accusations of being a terrible boyfriend, especially not over the phone.

“So, what are we going to talk about?” Lance asked, looking far away. “Wait I know. You’re not done telling me that I’m a straight jerk who just wants to have sex with you because you’re so damn hot.”

“No, it’s not that. I don’t-” Keith stopped himself with a deep breath. “I-I was just with Shiro earlier.”

“Okay?” He shook his head. Deep inside, he thought that he came here to win him back. It turned out, Keith just wanted to tell him the good news of him and Shiro finally being together. 

“I was with Shiro because I wanted to tell him that I’m in love with him.”

_ Oh. _ So he just wanted to rub his new relationship in his face.  _ Brilliant. Just brilliant. _

“Congratulations then. You got all you wanted. That’s nice,” Lance said with an eye roll. He did wish that Keith would finally be happy and contented but not this way. Tearing two people apart wasn’t the right way to be happy. “How’s Adam then? How did he take the fact that you’re a homewrecker now?”

Poor Adam. Being cheated on by his fiancé with his supposed little brother was unimaginable.

Keith furrowed his brows. “What? No! Nothing happened. Lance, I couldn’t tell him. If I did, I’d be lying to myself,” he told him. There was a pause, as if Keith was still trying to figure out what to say. “I don’t love him. I mean, I do but not in that way. Not anymore.”

Hope started to grow in his heart. He desperately tried to squash it as he remembered everything that Veronica told him. In summary, she advised him not to be stupid. He shouldn’t believe any flowery words or seemingly sincere gestures. He had to be tough.

“What are you trying to tell me then? That you were just kidding when you told me that you love Shiro?” Lance asked. He saw how Keith looked at Shiro. A love like that couldn’t possibly go away in a snap just like that.

“I’m saying that I love you and that I miss you.”

His words caused Lance to finally look at him properly. He was paler but nothing much changed. The most notable difference were his eyes. Previously, they held so much pain, so much heartbreak but now, they seemed clearer - brighter even. Immediately, he looked away because if he stared at him for too long, he would soon want to touch him and his soft hair.

“And you think you can just say that and everything will be okay?” Lance demanded. He used to think that Keith was the only person who didn’t think he was dumb but now he knew that everyone thought he was dumb. One of these days, he had to prove himself to set the record straight but for now, he was contented with only Veronica believing in his intellect. “God Keith. You don’t know how much you’re disappointing me right now.”

“I know Lance. I’ve disappointed you far too many times. You don’t deserve it.”

“Just tell me to go live in my straight world again so we could both move on,” Lance said. He knew he was being petty but he didn’t have the time, the energy, nor the right words to argue with him.

Keith paused for a moment. “I-It was wrong for me to say that. I was… I was so wary of you. I don’t even know why. You’re one of the few people who had been nice to me.”

Why on Earth would anyone be wary of him? Keith could kill him ten times with just one hand. This was a huge giveaway that he was just being told some bullshit. Well, Lance wasn’t falling for him again.

“Tell me what made you snap at me like that,” Lance said. He recalled all of Keith’s horrible accusations.  _ This entire relationship is just your sexual confusion talking. _ What absolutely broke him though was the fact that he could keep loving and loving him but he’ll never love him back the way he wanted to. “Was it me? Was I too much?”

“None of this is your fault, I promise.” _ Don’t hold back damn it. _

“No, just tell what I did wrong.”

“It’s all me Lance. It’s my-”

“Stop lying to me!” he yelled.

Eyeing him skeptically, Lance let out a sigh to calm himself down. Nothing would be resolved if he let his temper control him. He was angry and he had every right to be but now wasn’t the time to let it out. Plus, Lance felt like he was responsible for the pathetic look on Keith’s face.

“You said a lot of weird shit last time. You said you didn’t want to be my… experiment. What did you mean by that?”

Keith wasn’t a conceited person. He wasn’t the type to simply just assume that everyone was out to have sex with him. What Lance could not comprehend, even after nights of thinking and rethinking, was why would Keith have sex with random men, who were surely seeking him out just to have a gay experience, but get angry at him when his only intention was to love him? If he could tell him that he had sex with random people for positive attention, then he could definitely tell him why he was so worried about Lance’s sexual crisis. He had a reason or Lance desperately hoped that he did.

With a shuddering breath, he nodded. “Back in middle school, I had my first boyfriend,” Keith admitted. His hand clenched, his knuckles going white as if it physically pained him to talk. “James was very ambitious. He wanted to get in the Garrison as early as possible so when there’s an event that Shiro invited me to, I’d take him with me because I wanted him to succeed so desperately. When he finally got what he wanted - a scholarship, he told everyone at school that I was disgusting because I forced him to kiss me.”

The tale hit him unexpectedly. Just when he thought he knew everything about Keith, more information comes. Getting in the Garrison for high school was only something rich people can do. This James slithered his way in with a scholarship that Keith got for him.

“And… is he still there? At the Garrison?” Lance asked for the sake of clarification.

“Yeah, apparently he’s a good student.” Keith buried his face in his hands. “I felt so used, so betrayed,” he said defeatedly.

That almost did it. Lance’s heart went out to the broken man in front of him. All he wanted was to pull him close and give him kisses until everything was alright. Giving in so easily to Keith however, was something he just couldn’t do, even if it was getting harder and harder.

“Why are you doing this? What did you hope to come out of this conversation?” Lance asked. “My pity? Forgiveness?”

“Honestly, I don’t know but I don’t want your anger. That’s the last thing I want from you,” Keith replied.

Silence stretched out for one incredibly awkward moment. They stood in front of each other, not knowing what to say or how to say it. Lance decided that it was getting ridiculous so he broke it with a deep breath. “Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?”

“Why are you staying with your sister?” Keith asked.

There was no point in keeping it from him but he gave him the abridged version of what happened. He didn’t feel like sharing everything with his ex. “I came out to my parents. They kicked me out.” Which wasn’t entirely true because Lance felt like he kicked himself out.

“Oh,” he said, genuine surprise flicking across his features. “Are you okay?”

“Aside from the fact that my life would be a thousand times easier if I were just straight,” Lance said, looking down. “I’m good. It feels like a heavy weight was lifted off my chest.”

“Your parents can’t possibly live without you for long.”

It felt like the opposite actually. He needed his mother and father. Without their approval, what was he working for? And he already missed them so dearly. He felt so lost. He didn’t even know that he was crying until Keith wiped a tear away from his cheek. Lance shook his head and moved away from him.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to,” Keith said.

Lance nodded. “It’s fine… It’s-” The setting sun distracted him from what he was about to say. This was exactly the same atmosphere as the day they went on their first date. It brought a bittersweet sense of nostalgia to him.

In a swirl of emotions, it suddenly occurred to him why he loved Keith in the first place. He was his confidence back then when he had none but now, he didn’t need him anymore. He had everything he wished to achieve. He had a spot in the Garrison, which he didn’t need Keith to achieve. While he no longer had his parents’ support, he found that being himself felt better. Adapting to his new life would be difficult but he wasn’t scared.

Lance didn’t need Keith anymore. He simply wanted him.

These realizations, along with the surge of confidence made Lance a little dizzy. Was this what adulting felt like? He felt so sure but at the same time, he had no idea about what was going to happen.

“We have to be open to each other.” Lance took two steps forward. “It can’t be like before.”

“Then, what do you want from me?” he asked, confused.

“Did you mean what you said? Do you love me?”

“You already know the answer to that.”

Lance shook his head, tentatively reaching for his hand. It was just as cold as his. “I want to hear you say it. Do you love me?”

“Yes, I love you so much Lance,” Keith said. It felt so foreign on his lips. It was almost as if he wasn’t used to saying those words out loud to anybody.

“Then I want you to show it.”

Keith let out a dry laugh. “I need more time to do that.”

“You have time.”

This was the most stupid and irresponsible thing he had ever done in his life. At that moment though, Lance didn’t care. His feelings for him were enough to drown him and yet, all he wanted to do was to dive deeper.

And like their first time, neither of them knew who made the first move. Their souls pulled to each other like magnets. The kiss was very soft and sweeter than ever before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all liked this chapter. This was probably the hardest one to write. I was in such a hurry to edit this because I almost forgot to post! One more chapter to go!
> 
> Currently, I’m cleaning out my tumblr to make room for writing stuff. You can follow me @theresidentartichoke. You can ask questions there if you have any :)
> 
> So um... was this chapter good? I just hope the character development was okay.


	15. Chapter 15

After being threatened by Veronica for an hour, Keith was able to take his boyfriend home. Lance’s housing situation was now finally solved. Veronica wasn’t allowed to let him stay in her apartment at the Garrison anyway.

They were now on Keith’s motorcycle, dangerously riding with Lance’s huge backpack and guitar in tow. Lance wasn’t scared anymore. After all, he had Keith with him.

“I have mad respect for your sister,” Keith yelled above the breeze. “She fucking yelled at me while sharpening a knife!”

“How can you be happy with being threatened?” Lance asked. He could never understand how Keith’s mind worked.

Once they arrived at Keith’s little shack, Lance readied himself for the impending tackling that he would receive from Cosmo. Five minutes in, he had already settled comfortably on the the day bed but there wasn’t any signs of the huge dog.

“Um… where’s Cosmo?” Lance asked, looking around.

“At Shiro’s,” Keith answered, placing two cans of soda down on the coffee table. “I was supposed to sleepover there but, well I had to go to you.”

“I miss him. Cosmo and his fluffiness are the only reason why I agreed to get back together with you,” he said, chuckling.

Keith rolled his eyes and sat down beside him. “Oh no. How could you Lance? Cheating on me with my dog,” he said, his voice lacking emotion.

“Don’t worry Keith. I can love both you and Cosmo.”

Keith was quiet for a moment. “How can you? After how I treated you.”

Lance shrugged. “I don’t know. I really don’t know Keith.“ He pressed a kiss to his lips. “You’re a complicated little shit but I love you.”

Beside obviously Shiro, he would like to think that he knew Keith more than anyone else in the world but, deciphering Keith’s incredibly twisted thought process was a troubling procedure. Lance was up for the job though. He was positive that it will be significantly easier from now on. 

“Speak to yourself,” Keith said. “At least I knew I was gay from the beginning.”

“Excuse me, but being bisexual is harder to diagnose. You get all these signals from men and women. It gets confusing, alright?”

“Whatever, Lance.”

Without Cosmo at their feet, it was harder to fight the evening chill. He did not know how Keith lived this way without turning into a popsicle every night.

“Are you cold?”

“I’m fine,” he replied but Keith still wriggled closer and threw an arm around him in a hug that was strangely similar to a chokehold. Lance’s head was pressed up against his chest and the warmth had him leaning in.

“It’s always warmer in hell,” Keith said. He pressed a soft kiss on his lips and then smiled at him. It was the most blinding smile he had ever seen from him. “Welcome to your new home.”

“Why thank you, demon.”

They turned the small television on and spent the late night, watching a random movie that Lance picked. Well, it was supposed to be random but Keith only had three DVDs and they were all from fifteen years ago. Keith explained that most of his dad’s collection was either burned in the fire that consumed most of his home or sold online

Half way through the last movie, which was  _ Titanic _ , Lance felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Both of them had fallen asleep just as Jack Dawson boarded the ship. He stretched and snatched it out, only realizing that it was morning when he saw the time. 

“Hey Keith, wake up,” Lance said, blinking a few times so his eyes could focus. It took several seconds for it to register in his brain that his mother was calling him. “Keith!” He shook his boyfriend violently.

Keith let out a groan. “What is it? I was having a nice dream.”

Lance gulped. “It’s my mother,” he said. “W-what should I do?”

“Answer it,” Keith said, without thinking. “I think this is it. They’re going to talk to you and try to understand you.”

“What if they don’t?”

“Then you still have me and Veronica to back you up. Seriously Lance, you have nothing to be afraid of because you aren’t doing anything wrong,” he said. 

With the newfound courage he got from his boyfriend’s heartening words, he answered the phone.

“H-hello?”

“Lance, my darling! Diego, he answered. He finally answered,” came his mother’s worried voice. There was a hushed Spanish conversation between them but Lance figured that his mother managed to convince his father to listen in. “We have been so worried when Veronica told us that you weren’t with her anymore.”

“Y-yeah, I’m with- with my boyfriend now,” Lance said and it felt so good to say it out loud.

“Keith? You’re with Keith, yes?” Flora asked to confirm.

Lance nodded but then he remembered it was a phone call and they couldn’t actually see him. “Yes Mamá, I’m here. What made you call?”

“Your father and I…” She let out a sigh. “We’re so worried about you. I-I don’t know what I’d do if something were to happen to you and-”

“What your mother is trying to say is, we want you to come back home,” said his father solemnly.

In that moment, Lance wanted to cry. Home was always with his mother and father. They loved him and cared for him. From the recent events though, he started to feel less and less welcomed in their home. It was almost as if there was an invisible barrier between him and his parents and the only way to get through it was to forget about his bisexuality and the confidence he built up.

“I-I can’t,” Lance said. “I love you two so much but… I don’t feel safe there anymore. It’s not because you don’t keep me safe, it’s…” he trailed off, not knowing how to tell them.

Flora sobbed loudly. “Lance,  _ mijo _ . We do not want you to ever be scared to live in your own home. That is the last thing we could ever want.”

“Your situation isn’t anything we have encountered before. Your mother and I never had this problem with your siblings,” Diego admitted with a sigh. “The internet is still hard to navigate without you but it was helpful.”

The thought of his father with his reading glasses and game face on as he explored google for answers on why his son was bisexual and how it could be remedied got a chuckle out of him. He wished he could have seen him struggle.

“We will be supportive. That’s what the people on the forum said,” Flora added. So his mother went through the internet too?

“But Mamá, I’m not the son that you want,” Lance said, shaking his head. “God… hates people like me.” He never did believe that. It wasn’t God that hated. It was the people who practiced the religion. But he figured that it would be easier for his parents to understand if he said it that way.

“Lance, God does not want this but God has a list of several other things that He does not want. I just want you to still have faith in Him and in us. No matter who you fall in love with, you’re still our son,” Flora said softly.

In that instant, Lance broke down crying. Keith immediately pulled him close and pressed kisses on his face. When they asked him to come back home once more, he just sobbed his answer out. Normal people wouldn’t be able to understand what he just said but they’re his parents. They knew him and now they knew him even more.

“I’m so sorry Lance,” Keith said. “But hey, you can stay with me as long as you want.”

Lance shook his head and wiped his tears away. Of course, Keith misunderstood his emotions as rejection because he had been speaking Spanish. Even after all the tutoring, he still wasn’t fluent. “My parents want me home. T-they’re okay with it. They actually googled it and- and-” He couldn’t even form the right words.

“They… accept you?” Keith asked, genuine surprise in his voice. “Really?”

He nodded excitedly. “I-I have a home again. I have my own room and my mom’s cooking and-”

“So you don’t like my humble abode?” he asked with a pout.

“What? No! I mean, yeah I love your… house,” Lance said, looking around. While he did enjoy being in Keith’s house, he still wasn’t quite sure if it should be referred to as such. Despite the fact that it was falling apart, it was definitely Keith’s home though and Lance certainly felt at home with him. “Oh you know what I mean. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

Keith responded with a kiss. “I was just messing with you. I’m so happy for you, Lance. You are so lucky.”

Indeed, he was lucky. Not everyone had parents that accepted them for who they were. Relief flushed through his chest, feeling better and better every second. His days of pretending to be straight were over. 

“Maybe… maybe I could take you home with me again? But this time, as my official boyfriend,” he suggested, taking his hand.

“I would love that.”

* * *

When he was young, Lance thought weddings shouldn’t be a big deal. It was probably because of all the fuss that surrounded Luis’ wedding. There were so much tradition that had to be followed and too many people to be invited. He hated every moment of it, especially the part where he had to sit down quietly in the Church. Little Lance’s hyper-activeness hated being suppressed. The food at the reception wasn’t good too.

Shiro’s wedding, however, completely changed Lance’s view on weddings. It was the first time he had ever been to a same-sex wedding and he was thoroughly surprised. All flowers and lights that decorated the outdoor space was minimal but at the same time very elegant. The Garrison gardens were transformed into a fairy tale.

Lance frowned as a sense of déjà vu hit him. The last time he thought that way was at the dance more than a year ago. It was how him and Keith started their relationship.

“Can’t I just take this ribbon off?” Keith complained, coming up to him.

“Nope,” Lance said, trying to fix the mess of a knot that his disastrous boyfriend did on his hair. “As the best man, you should look very fancy.”

“You made me wear this hair ribbon, against my better judgement. You made me wear these clown shoes, against my better judgement. And you made me put a bowtie on Cosmo-”

“Against your better judgement,” Lance completed, rolling his eyes. He made sure that Keith’s hair was neat before facing him again. “It’s your brother’s wedding, babe. Trust me, Shiro wants everything to look good and that includes your hair and Cosmo.” He glanced at the dog who was sniffing the decorative flowers and probably wondering if he could eat them.

Keith relented, his shoulders slumped. “Fine but once this ceremony is over, I’m taking this off.”

“You will take them off after the photographer takes pictures.”

A second later, Keith was pulled away from Lance and ushered into his position. Lance smiled warmly at his boyfriend and went to his seat at the piano. He still felt so awkward about playing the piano outdoors. It was like any second it would start moving if he played Vanessa Carlton’s Thousand Miles. Piano driving was never on his bucket list. Once he pressed the first chords of the couple’s favorite song, the ceremony started.

The wedding was where Shiro debuted his new prosthetic arm. Lance read on the internet that it was made out of the same material that space ships were made out of. He had yet to confirm its authenticity. Keith most likely has the answer anyway and he was just a few steps away, standing proud and tall beside Shiro.

Adam’s face reflected the happiness on Shiro’s. In matching white suits, they looked more like supermodels on a magazine than a couple getting married. The way that they gazed at each other was just so loving that it was hard to look away.

The kiss they shared at the end of the ceremony was passionate and deep. Lance had to cover Cosmo’s eyes because of how steamy it got - not that the dog cared. Everyone clapped as they made their way back. Shiro and Adam’s wedding was probably one of the most magical moments in Lance’s young life.

“You’re crying,” Keith said, suddenly appearing beside him.

Lance jumped. “Don’t just scare people like that!” he yelled, furiously wiping his tears away. “And no, I’m not crying. There was something in my eye.”

He shook his head and then looked at his face. “Want me to blow on it for you?” he asked, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “Or do you want to sneak off somewhere while they’re preparing the venue for the reception?”

“Mm… what do you suggest we do?”

“I could blow something else,” he said with a flirty grin.

Cosmo, who was so done with being ignored, leaped up at Keith and then licked his face happily, tearing him away from Lance.

“Aw… father and son reunited,” Lance said, taking his phone out to take a picture.

“Calm down buddy,” Keith said, pushing Cosmo off him. “Shut up Lance.”

He took a picture first before he did.

Evening came and they finally got to eat. The scent alone made Lance’s mouth water. All the guests were served with the newlywed couple’s favorite dishes. Lance sort of wished he could have taken Hunk along because he would surely rave over the lovely presentation and the divine tastes.

Lance pointed to the unknown food on his plate. “I love this.”

“You loved everything,” his boyfriend replied, feeding Cosmo some of his food.

“No, I think this one is the best.”

“Describe it to Flora and she’ll make it for you.”

“That’s a good idea!” Lance wiped the sauce off his face and then kissed his cheek. “Why didn’t I think of that? You’re the best.”

“I know I am,” he said, placing more garlic knots on Lance’s plate because he knew he loved them.

A violin instrumental of ‘Angels Brought Me Here’ played. Lance looked around, feeling betrayed that Shiro didn’t come to him to play that. He realized that no one was playing and the music was coming from the speakers. Music sounded better live.

The newlyweds went to the dance floor for their first dance as husband and husband. Their arms were wrapped tightly around each other with their eyes gazing lovingly. Lance let out a wistful sigh. It would probably feel so good to marry the one you love and celebrate it with people you care for.

Lance placed his hand in Keith’s. “They look so cute together.”

“Indeed they do,” he replied. “But I’m the little brother so I have to act annoyed.”

Okay, Keith didn’t get his hint. How could he get him to ask him to dance without asking him himself?

“I bet we’d look cute when we dance like that,” Lance said, tightening his hold. “What do you think?”

“I think I’d step on your feet ten times, then you’ll complain and make me give you a foot massage.”

He pouted and then went back to looking at Shiro and Adam. When the song ended, the guests started joining in on the fun on the dance floor. He really wanted to dance with his boyfriend. The song that was playing had a really good rhythm so he had no other choice. He turned to Keith and then pulled him up.

“We should dance. I’m loving this song,” he said.

“I can’t dance,” Keith said, shaking his head.

“Pretty please?”

“Since when did pleases became pretty?” Keith grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. All Lance had to do was give him his best sad puppy look and they were all set. “Fine but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Not wasting any time, Lance dragged Keith to the dance floor and wrapped his arms around him eagerly. Suddenly, he was feeling a tad bit self-conscious and he knew Keith was feeling the same way. They had never held each other like this in public before.

“Okay um… just move to the beat of the song like that,” he instructed, focusing on his face. “You won’t step on my feet if we just swayed like this.”

“Oh thank goodness. I thought you wanted me to do insane salsa moves.”

Lance smiled. “Well, I do want to do the dance from Dirty Dancing with you. I could totally lift you up and everything.”

Keith frowned at him and then stepped on his foot on purpose. “Whoops. My foot wanted to silence my idiot boyfriend.”

“Hey! Your handsome and totally romantic boyfriend, you mean,” he corrected.

“Yes, handsome and totally romantic,” he said, kissing him deeply. He grinned when he pulled away abruptly. “But still an idiot.”

They were strange like that. Affection meant being called an idiot a few times. Lance knew how highly Keith thought of him anyway and it made him feel so special.

“I have something to tell you,” Keith said, his face looking quite serious.

Fear still lingered around the edges when Keith would drop his voice and talk that way. It wasn’t because Lance still thought Keith would kill him, or that he would leave him for being annoying. Considering how cancer could affect the lives of even successful people like Shiro, he didn’t want to suddenly hear the news of Keith being diagnosed with it too.

“So, Shiro found me a place at the Garrison,” Keith started and Lance was relieved that it wasn’t bad news, “but my room is way too big and the rent is a little out of my price range so I was thinking…” he drifted off.

Lance took the opportunity to spin him around and they managed to end up against a wall.

“Do you want to move in with me?”

A hand flew towards his mouth. “Oh my God! Yes!”

Keith shook his head. “You don’t have to answer like it’s a marriage proposal.”

“You might as well give me the ring now, honey bunch.”

“H-honey bunch? Lance, you are such a huge dork! Can you tone it down a little bit?”

“No can do. It’s one of those unchangeable things that you just have to deal with. Like how the sky is blue. Music is art.” He grinned at him. “Lance loves Keith.”

Keith’s face went impossibly red before he crushed Lance’s foot once more. “Keith loves Lance but Lance is getting on Keith’s nerves,” he said before kissing his cheek.

“Aw babe. Let me make it up to you,” Lance said, pointing to the piano and winking at him.

He groaned. “Stop reminding me of-”

“I wrote a song for you.”

There was a short pause as Keith contemplated. The next thing he knew, he was being dragged over to the piano by the man he loved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here it is, the final chapter. Thank you so much to everyone who read this. It was very challenging writing one chapter a week so I hope you all liked it. I might write a short sequel but I don't know. I really don't have anything planned yet.
> 
> This was a very fun and difficult chapter to write. The hardest part was writing the part with Lance's parents. I know it's a very sensitive topic so I hope I did it justice. This was also meant to come full circle because both chapter one and fifteen had dances idk lol.
> 
> Since this is the last chapter, I want to know what everyone's favorite part was in the whole story. I feel like Dora the Explorer when I ask this haha.
> 
> You can follow me @theresidentartichoke on Tumblr if you want!


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